论功能对等理论在中餐菜单翻译的适用性

论文总字数：26423字

摘 要

随着国际交流越来越频繁，许多外国人来中国旅游品尝美食。为了方便外国人了解中国美食，中国政府最近专门出版了《中文菜单英文译法》以规范中国菜单的翻译。本文将从文化角度对运用功能对等理论翻译中国菜名提出批评。通过研读大量实例，本文作者认为运用功能对等论于中国菜名翻译并不完全适用,因为中国菜单中包含的许多中国文化的成分很可能在移植的过程中丢失。

关键词：功能对等论；翻译；中餐菜单；不适用

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Feasibility of Functional Equivalence in Chinese Menu Translation 2

4. Imperfection in Functional Equivalence of Chinese Menu Translation 5

4.1 Loss of Chinese Connotation 6

4.2 Loss of Chinese Regional Culture 7

4.3 Value Conflict 8

5. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 11

1. Introduction

In Chinese culture, Chinese cuisine is an important part. Many people from home and abroad are willing to taste the delicious Chinese food. Chinese cuisine is not only delicious, but also has special meaning in each name which can express Chinese culture in some way. The diversity of methods and materials of Chinese cuisine determines the variety of Chinese cuisine names. However, the variety of Chinese cuisine names has led to chaos in the translation of Chinese menu. So it is necessary to set rules for the translation of Chinese menu. To conclude translation method we need to understand the characteristic and naming method of Chinese cuisine in order to achieve the accuracy of translation of Chinese menu and make it easily accessible to foreigners. However, there has been a blank in the criterion of Chinese cuisine translation for a long time. Therefore, the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality has organized the compilation and publication of the book Enjoy Culinary Delights: A Chinese Menu in English (Beijingshi Renminzhengfu Waishibangongshi 2011:196). It is intended that this book will help to avoid the ridiculous translation like Husband and Wife’s Lung Slice(夫妻肺片)which is reported in the CNN news in 2007.

With the frequent communication between Chinese and other countries, many scholars do different researches about translation of Chinese cuisine from different perspectives, among which is some researches on the translation of Chinese menu from the perspective of functional equivalence. And most people consider applying the functional equivalence theory to Chinese menu translation is quite suitable. The author of this thesis has a different opinion. She asserts that the adaption of functional equivalence to Chinese menu translation should be divided into two kinds of circumstances. Some Chinese menus are suitable from the perspective of functional equivalence while others are not.

2. Literature Review

As more and more foreigners come to China, it is becoming increasingly important to pay attention on the study of Chinese menu translation. And a large amount of scholars take up the study about translation of Chinese menu. Based on the review of domestic and abroad studies on the translation of Chinese menu, we can see a lot of achievements have been done in this area. There are a lot of articles studies the translation of Chinese menu from the perspective of functional equivalence. These researches not only provide the importance of Chinese menu translation but also provide the basic methods of Chinese menu translation. And they also offer some useful suggestion and examples of Chinese menu translation. These theses proved the adaption of Chinese menu translation from the perspective of functional equivalence. Ming thinks that the adaption of functional equivalence has been totally embodied in the translation of Chinese menu. However, through the careful analysis of their article, it is worth to wonder: Is the functional equivalence totally suitable in the translation of each cuisine names?

3. Feasibility of Functional Equivalence in Chinese Menu Translation

Eugene A. Nida is a famous linguist, translator and “evergreen scholar” in the practice of translation area. His characteristic can be summed up as the integration of theory and practice and always be ready to learn humbly. As a general view, the translation study of Doctor Nida can be divided into three periods. In the first period, from 1940s to the beginning of 1960s, he focuses on the linguistics and aims on the analysis of words and sentence structure. During middle of 1960s and 1970s which regards as his second period, key research of Nida is the theory of equivalence. In his third period of study, from 1980s till now, Nida focuses on the perspective of multidisciplinary. To sum up, the way of translation study of Doctor Nida shows the feature from linguistics to sociolinguistics. Nida puts forward the theory of functional equivalence in his book during his second period of study. “The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it”(Nida 1993: 87). Functional equivalence is targeted to the translated language culture. The theory of functional equivalence has profound effects on the Chinese translation field since it was introduced to China in 1980s.

“Equivalence cannot be understood in its mathematical meaning of identity, but only in terms of proximity, i.e. on the basis of degrees of closeness to functional identity”(Nida 2003: 87). As Nida said, translator ought to seek for the closest natural equivalent. Cooking culture passes on the unique characteristic of each nation’s culture. It is not only a medium of knowing each other’s culture and history, but also a way for deepening the culture exchanges between Chinese and western culture. According to his translation principle of functional equivalence, translation has to accord with the receptor language and culture. For the sake of conveying the information of the cuisine effectively, we can apply his theory of functional equivalence to the translation of Chinese menu. Chinese cuisine names have various styles and naming techniques. Through his theory of functional equivalence, Chinese cuisine names can be translated by different translation strategies. In his view of translation, translators ought to focus on “the response of receptor” rather than “the form of message”. The priority of translation is making receptors understand the real meanings of source language.

“If a more or less literal correspondence is functionally equivalent in both designative and associative meaning, then obviously no adjustments in form are necessary”(Nida 2001: 92). In his view, associative meanings of lexemes are amazingly stable for specific language-culture. Since the translation of Chinese menu is face to western people who has similar culture background, translators can find a way on the base of cuisine’s associative meaning. The progress of literal translation is to achieve the equivalence between Chinese and English cuisine names. In this way, we ought to make the translation be faithful to the original name of the dish if the name of this cuisine is simple and easy to understand. Because of relatively equivalent between Chinese and English in the description of raw material along with their shape and the way of cutting, it is reasonable for the translator to apply literal translation to Chinese menu translation. The highest level of equivalence in Chinese cuisine translation is not only being faithful to the contents but also to the form of the original name. There are examples like Steamed Egg with Clams(蛤蜊蒸蛋), Hot and Spicy Pork Chops(香辣猪扒), Stewed Beef Brisket with Cumin and Chili Sauce(孜然辣汁焖牛腩).

“If a close, formal translation is likely to result in a misunderstanding of the designative meaning, certain changes must be introduced into the text of the translation” (Nida 2001: 92). That is to say, if translation cannot match the meaning and culture at the same time, the translators have to give up the equivalence of form. The translators can change the form of original cuisine’s name to achieve the goal of reproduction of original meaning and culture. Chinese cuisine has its own history culture and some Chinese cuisine has stories and tales. Hence, these stories produced a large number of Chinese cuisines with romantic names. Literal translation cannot be used in translation of this kind of Chinese cuisine, because it may cause misunderstanding of the cuisine. A number of Chinese cuisine names consist of some artistic elements. They are usually designed to the beautification of the cooking techniques and materials. In some Chinese cuisine, “yugun”(玉棍) refers to “bamboo shoot”, “shuangdong”(双冬) is referred to as “mushroom”, “furong(芙蓉)” refers to “egg-white” and “fengzhua(凤爪)” referring to “chicken’s paw”. Under this circumstance, translators ought to take the method of free translation to keep its meaning without the original form for the achievement of functional equivalence. So, we have to consider the receiver of the translation and despite the literal meaning in order to point out their real meaning for the sake of functional equivalence. Here are some examples: Sautéed Vermicelli with Spicy Minced Pork (蚂蚁上树), Fresh Abalone in Spicy Sauce (五味九孔), Sea Cucumber with Quail Eggs (乌龙吐珠).

“If a close, formal translation makes no sense, i.e. is totally obscure in designative meaning, certain changes may be introduced into the text”(Nida 2001: 92). Following the principle of his functional equivalence, we have to do some re-creation for the kind of Chinese cuisine which is really vague on designative meaning. Chinese people regards auspicious words as important which deriving some cuisine’s names are only for the people’s psychology of happiness and lucky. Diners cannot figure out the ingredient or the cooking method through this kind of cuisine names. We need to understand the characteristic and naming method of Chinese cuisine. In that way, we have to explain the original meanings of Chinese cuisine in order to the accuracy of translation of Chinese menu and easily understand way for foreigner. In Chinese people’s eyes, dragons and phoenixes are auspicious animals. However, it is contrary to the foreigners’ opinion in which they take dragons and phoenixes as horrible creatures. In Chinese Long means dragon in the cuisine Long Kudo. If we use literal translation, this cuisine will become a horrible Chinese food in western people’s eyes called Dragons Fight against Tiger. But for the culture adaption of western people, dragon should be replaced by the word “long” which means the length or lasting a long time. Kudo is the transliteration of Chinese and the word kudo is included in the dictionary which means prize, glory or honor. As we can see, after the re-creation of the cuisine name, a “horrible” Chinese cuisine has been changed into a delicious one. Therefore, translators ought to do some re-creation for the translation of cuisine names by materials of the cuisine. For example, Long Kudo(龙虎斗), Appetizer A La Dynasty(福满六小碟), Triple Delight(三鲜汤). Under some circumstances, it is necessary to add some extra explanation after the name for the better understanding of the foreigners. For instance, Long Kudo(龙虎斗)，Braised Captive Snake, Wild Cat and Chicken, and Triple Delight(三鲜汤), Sliced chicken, shrimp and beef sautéed with Chinese vegetables in house special sauce.

4. Imperfection in Functional Equivalence of Chinese Menu Translation

Translators have to consider the culture, tradition, history, customs and linguistic characteristics of both languages. One of the important sightseeing experiences is to taste the unique Chinese cuisine. Food culture is an important part in culture communication as cuisine names are a significant way in delivering information and spreading culture. So it is important to translate the name of Chinese cuisine accurately. In the opinion of Nida, meaning should be put in the first place while style ought to be placed in the second. From his view, we should always put the understanding of the foreigners in the first place. In that way, we may lose our opportunity to spread our own culture from the way of Chinese menu translation. So, we can see some imperfection in the adaptability of functional equivalence of Chinese menu translation from above.

4.1 Loss of Chinese Connotation

Some names of Chinese cuisine are not only beautiful in Chinese pronunciation but also have artistic meaning. These cuisine names show the wisdom of Chinese people. The functional equivalence may not be useful in translation of this kind of Chinese cuisine. Because of the extensive and profound Chinese culture, some kind of Chinese expression cannot be translated into English sufficiently and accurately. The artistic conception may not be expressed in the translation of Chinese cuisine. Here are some examples.

In the famous Chinese TV play Huan Zhu Ge Ge, the princess Zi Wei named some cuisine poetically in Chinese, such as 在天愿作比翼鸟，红嘴绿鹦哥，燕草如碧丝，秦桑低绿枝，漠漠水田飞白鹭，阴阴夏木啭黄鹂，凤凰台上凤凰游，黄鹤一去不复返，凤去台空江自流. These cuisine names are all from classical Chinese poems. However, it will not be that poetical when these cuisine names translated into English from the perspective of functional equivalence. For example, 在天愿作比翼鸟 is a dish made of two roasted chicken covered by the mud during the process of cooking. In the eye of common people, a roasted chicken called 叫化鸡, which means chicken eaten by the beggars. However, for the dignity of his majesty, princess Zi Wei called the two roasted chicken 在天愿作比翼鸟 which means two lovely birds flying in the sky together. And this sentence from a famous classical Chinese love poem. “The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it”(Nida, 2003:87). In the view of functional equivalence, this dish should be translated into Jiaohua Chicken for the principle of “being faithful to the original name”. In that way, the connotation of the Chinese cuisine names cannot be shown in English. Same as Poached Green Vegetable, it is called燕草如碧丝 in the wisdom of Princess Zi Wei. When the green vegetable is covered by the Tofu as a brand new dish, it is called 漠漠水田飞白鹭 in Chinese. And when the Tofu is replaced by the fried eggs, this dish becomes 阴阴夏木啭黄鹂. An ordinary Chinese home-made dish can be named after different classical poems sentences only for the diverse ingredients. In the TV play, these poetic Chinese cuisine names made his majesty very happy and willing to eat the simple diet. So, we can see the importance of a good cuisine name. These beautiful meanings cannot be shown under the theory of functional equivalence in translation. In this way, beautiful name of Chinese cuisine can make people have good appetite and the translation of these dish names cannot show its advantage in this way.

4.2 Loss of Chinese Regional Culture

China has a vast territory which leads to the huge regionalism from south to north and east to west. So, Chinese culture and customs may be totally different. Each region has unique taste and cooking methods about food. Chinese cuisine is not only delicious, but also has a moral in each name which in some way embodies Chinese culture. Functional equivalence in the translation of Chinese cuisine may not show the regional culture efficiently. Each region in China has its own cuisine culture and history. And the culture of each region can be totally different. In the northern China, people prefer salty food while southern Chinese like making sweet cuisine. People in the east of China prefer to eat seafood while it is more common for the people in western China to eat corps. Some cuisine names have obvious regional feature. For example, when we talk about some cuisine which taste is spicy and with large number of pepper, it is easily for us to think of Si Chuan province. And when we talk about some sea food, it reminds us of the Guangdong province. Guangdong cuisine pay attention to the fresh food and varied in cooking methods. Shang Dong cuisine prefers to be crispy and make sweet and sour food. And Jiangsu cuisine is heavy in the flavor. In translation of Chinese menu from the perspective of functional equivalence, the translation of Chinese cuisine is paying more attention to the content of dish name realistically. So, it may miss some stories behind the cuisine.

For instance, 酸菜炖粉条can make people easily think of northeast of China because of the Chinese word 炖 which is a cooking method means simmer. However, this obvious characteristic cannot be reflected in its English name, Sautéed Pickled Cabbage and Vermicelli. In that way, foreigners will not understand the regional culture behind the names of cuisine. Dongpo Pork (东坡肉) is a famous Hangzhou cuisine which is invented by the well-known Chinese patriotic poet while Dongpo Pig Knuckle（东坡肘子） is a famous Sichuan cuisine invented by Su Dongpo’s wife Wang Fu. These two cuisines are from different area but all named after Su Dongpo and the translation may make foreigners to convince the two dishes are same in the taste and cooking methods which they are not. These two translations are all being faith to the original names and can be easily understood by foreigners. But the different culture background cannot be shown by the translation. Guangdong people like to have a special cuisine in the Chinese Spring Festival called 发菜蚝豉 in Chinese which is similar in pronounce with 发财好市. And 发财好市in Chinese means being wealthy and having a better business next year. When we translate this cuisine into English, the meaningful cuisine name is no longer exists. From the translated English name, we can only get the information about the raw materials. Even we add some extra information after, the foreigners still feel confused about the name of cuisine. They cannot connect some vegetable with Chinese good wish.

4.3 Value Conflict

Chinese people and western people have different culture and value. In the view of Chinese, every edible food ought to be used as cooking material sufficiently. Therefore, there are large amounts of cuisine made of animal meat even insects which cannot be acceptable for foreigners. A great number of western people consider it is merciless for Chinese to cook the meat of dog as a cuisine. Western people thinks dogs are friends of human and they should be equal with human beings. So, in their value it is really cruel for Chinese people to eat kindred friends. From the opinion of Nida, we should respect the receptor’s feelings and understanding. The readers’ responses are the most important thing for the translation. Some translation of Chinese cuisine ought to be adjusting for the acceptability of foreigners. However, many Chinese cuisine names largely use the method of metaphor. Using this method can make the people who are reading the names of cuisine before eating are more willing to have it. In the view of functional equivalence, we ought to translate this kind of Chinese cuisine with its raw material and cooking method. In that way, some delicious raw material in China can be some horrible thing which cannot be eaten by foreigners.

Chinese people focus on the nutrition of the raw materials. So, some kind of insects can be delicious table food. For example, the pupa of cicada is a common cooking material in the northeast of China while foreigners consider they are horrible insects which cannot be taken as food. But the high protein inside the pupa of cicada is very nutritive and the taste of this dish is wonderful. From the perspective of functional equivalence, this dish name may not mention the insects in English for the acceptability of foreigners. Dragons are lucky creature in Chinese people’s eyes while they are horrible monster in foreigners’ eyes. So, the translation cannot show the happy image of the cuisine because the value conflicts between Chinese and western culture. 泡椒凤爪 is a popular cold dish in China and the word 凤 means phoenix in English. 龙 and 凤 are both lucky creature in China. But the translation of this cold dish is Chicken Feet with Pickled Peppers. We still cannot see the Chinese happy image in the translation of Chinese cuisine. And a lot of foreigners may neither accept the phoenix nor the chicken feet. Pigeon is a symbol of peaceful. So, it is rare for Western people to eat pigeon. Roast Superior Pigeonneau (吊烧乳鸽王) may not let foreigners to have a good appetite about it. There are also some other animals as raw materials in Chinese cuisine terrifying the foreigners such as dogs, cats, frogs and kinds of insects.

In the theory of functional equivalence, translators ought to focus on “the response of receptors” rather than “the form of message”. The priority of translation is making receptors understand the real meanings of source language. In that way, we may lose the opportunity to spread our own culture. And we can say that loss is the imperfection in functional equivalence of Chinese menu translation. Sometimes we ought to consider the exportation of Chinese culture not just to consider the receptors’ capability of acceptance.

5. Conclusion

Although Chinese food has hundreds of years’ history, the progress of Chinese cuisine’s development will not stop. The development of food is ever-changing. In this case, rules of Chinese menu translation cannot be absolute. Rules are varies with the development of things. As it is said in the book Enjoy Culinary Delights: A Chinese Menu in English: “Because of the differences in Chinese and foreign cultural traditions and languages, it is difficult for the English translation of Chinese menu to fully convey the characteristics and unique charm of the Chinese food culture and thus, the translation and its principles summarized are still open to comment and advice”(Beijingshi Renminzhengfu Waishibangongshi 2011:196).

The translation of Chinese menu achieved the requirement of functional equivalence in some way if a Chinese cuisine can be understood by the foreign people and let foreigners have a good appetite. And there are still some insufficient in functional equivalence of Chinese cuisine translation. We cannot always put the degree of foreigners’ acceptance at first place. We need to consider some way to spread our own culture. And pay more attention to the exportation of Chinese culture. The successful culture exportation of Chinese like Gongfu, Dama and Majiang can be good examples for us. In order to spread the Chinese culture around the world, we have to adopt a two-side approach in viewing the translation of Chinese cuisine from the perspective of functional equivalence. Some kind of Chinese cuisine can be translated from the perspective of functional equivalence while others may not.

The author of this thesis wishes that this paper will help some people who are interested in the translation of Chinese menu and may, in some degree, promote the cross-cultural communication between China and western world.

Works Cited

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