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1、The Art of Translation and the Translation of Chinese Restaurant Menu Thesis statement: Chinese menus always confuse the foreigners because the translation of the menus is not literary and many scholars come to agree that the translation should be an art, not a science. Outline: I. The overview of t
2、ranslation art A. The definition of translation art B. The development of translation art in literary history II. Restaurant Menu Translation and Translation Art A. The present state of restaurant menu translation 1. Problems in restaurant menu translation 2. Causes for the problems in restaurant me
3、nu translation 3. Suggestions for improving the restaurant menu translation B. Skills in improving the act of translation 1. The cultural background in developing the act of translation 2. Historic background in developing the act of translation III. Some good examples of menu translation IV. Conclu
4、sion: The relation of the translation art and the menu translationThe Art of Translation and the Translation of Chinese Restaurant MenuTranslation is an art. It is not only faithful to the original passage but also have the life of its own. An excellent translation is creative and skillful, which co
5、nveys the same meaning to people who live in different language systems. The same meaning is not only referring to the words meaning itself, but also involved in the sound, the structure and even the artistic conception. Art is abstract, the same is true in the art of translation. It takes time and
6、effort to achieve its beauty. There is a saying, “The history of translation is the history of literary innovation.”(Mohit 2) However, through out literary history, translation takes a very low position. People do not admit it as an art or worth studying. Just as the Hilaire Belloc says:The art of t
7、ranslation is a subsidiary art and derivative. On this account it has never been granted the dignity of original work and has suffered too much in the general judgment of letters. This natural underestimation of its character has added to its degradation: Neither its importance nor its difficulty ha
8、s been grasped. (Mohit 183) However, problems occur when the translation is degraded. Many people are satisfied in the superficial meaning of the words. Take Chinese restaurants translation for an example, Chinese restaurants are facing a sever problem: how to make the foreigners understand their me
9、nus. There are many complaints from the foreigners about the translation in Chinese restaurant menu. Many times, they do not know what to order because they always get confused and even sometimes they are shocked by the names of the menus. There are some examples: 麻婆豆腐bean curd made by a pockmarked
10、woman, which actual meaning is “Sichuan style bean curd” 童子鸡 chicken without sexual life, which actual meaning is “spring chicken”These examples reflect some problems in translation. The translating in Chinese restaurant menu translation is a mechanical transfer process, in which the translation are
11、 done word by word and then the words are organized in Chinese logic. The point is that what it is translated is the words, not the meaning. Actually, whether the words are in English or not is not the target of translation, what it requires is to inform the foreigners what it is on the menus. “Glob
12、alization has always been an important aspect of translation. Translation brings cultures closer. At present, the process of globalization is moving faster than ever before.” With the globalization becomes more and more popular; people in different courtiers are getting closed linked. In order to co
13、mmunicate with each other, they need to acknowledge other countries. So translation becomes a tool in international affairs. But translation between the two countries should not only include understanding the language, but also understanding the cultural history of political and economic circumstanc
14、es. Sometimes the beauty of a language which, translated into another language often become challenges. Many people realize the translations importance and pay more attention to it. Besides, their requirements for the translation quality are higher than ever. So, the translation develops prosperousl
15、y and then comes to the art of translation. Translator, as the Irish scholar Susan Bassnett points out, is also a traveler; someone engaged a journey from one source to another. (Bassnett 176) Translator between the two countries should not only understand the language, but also understand the cultu
16、ral history of political and economic circumstances. The challenge in translation between two countries under different cultures informs us the two sides of the translation are both essential. One is the source language and the other is the target language. However, there are so many differences between two languages. So it is of great obstacle of translation in conveying completely the whole meaning to another language to people. For a
