Translation of Huaiyang Dish Names from the Cross-Cultural Perspective

跨文化视角下淮扬菜菜名的翻译

Introduction

”Mundane leisure could be easily derived from delicacies”, Chinese culture has a long history of splendor and brilliance.

Diet, as a carrier of cultural expression, not only witnesses the developmental track of Chinese civilization, also embodies the distinctive ethnic characteristics. Dating back to ancient times, since grapes and spices were transported via the Silk Road from the western regions into China, today the western dieting culture also infiltrates into our daily life. Cross cultural phenomenon is reflected in all aspects of society.

The success of Hangzhou G20 summit showed national mightiness and strength, which left deep impression on the world. International guests at the reception banquet were entertained with elaborate and exquisite cuisines, and also felt the picturesque charm of the host city by savoring and relishing the palatable food with indigenous style.

Different from the Hangzhou cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine belongs to China#8217;s renowned four traditional cuisines. Although it boasts reputation at home, and is also prioritized as the preferably-selected cuisine to entertain international dignitaries at the state banquet, its popularity gained in the world can#8217;t compare with the Chuan cuisine, Yue cuisine, and Lu cuisine. The reason for that may be the lack of propaganda and vacancy of a complete and precise system for translation of Huaiyang dishes.

On the translation strategies of Huaiyang cuisines,we can adopt methods of domestication and foreignization, annotation, transliteration, and illustrations. Not only to retain the inherent characteristics of Huaiyang food culture, but also let the target readers understand its meanings, and further strengthen the promotion of Huaiyang food culture, enhance the international visibility as well.

Literature Review

A number of already-published dissertations had discussed the methods for translation of dishes names, in which different authors expressed their respective or individual perspective towards this issue. They all share the common denominator of the matter: flexibility and understandability.