Chinese culture “Going Out” through translating Chinese culinary culture : a bite of China Ⅱ, a case study

Abstract

This dissertation is a translative study of Chinese culinary culture through the perspective of China’s intercultural publicity. Chinese culinary culture is often an area of general interest to foreign audiences since Chinese food is readily available.

Chinese culinary culture is therefore seen as one of the most significant publicity methods to facilitate the implementation of China’s “Going Out” policy (Yang, 2014). However, Chinese dietary culture translation is still a relatively new field. Previous studies on this subject were mostly largely focused on dish name translation. Consequently, this dissertation aims to improve on the current literature by translating the book version of A Bite of China Ⅱ, with a focused translation direction and translation strategy and approaches.

To produce a quality translated text (TT) that is readily accepted by target readers, the dissertation analyzed the source text (ST) including its text style and formality and identified the functions of the TT according to Newmark and Reiss’ theories of text typologies. Applying Goethe and Huang Youyi’s concepts in intercultural publicity translation, this paper suggests translators employ the domestication strategy as the main direction in their translations with the purpose of disseminating Chinese culture to the world. Finally, this dissertation provided translators with five specific translation methods that were applicable to other Chinese food-related texts.