Subtitle Translation Strategies of Dish Name in the Chinese Documentary-A Bite of China 1

Abstract

With the implementation of “go globally” strategy of Chinese culture, a large number of Chinese films and TV programs have been produced to go abroad. As a medium and carrier of cultural communication, the quality of documentary subtitle translation determines whether Chinese culture can be appropriately disseminated or not. This paper aims to investigate the translation strategies of culture-specific items with special focus on name of dishes. The object of study in this paper is A Bite of China 1 produced by CCTV in 2012, which is not only about Chinese foods but also geography, local customs and dietary habit. Firstly, by using comparative approach, the linguistic characteristics are discussed to identify the similarities and differences between source and translated dish names. Then the translation strategies for dish name are examined. Next, such factors affecting translation strategies as cultural ideology is analyzed. The objective of this paper is to study what translation strategies are possibly adopted when translating Chinese dish name into English in the documentary. The findings show that in the process of dish name translation of Chinese documentaries, domestication and foreignization are two frequently used strategies which is complementary to each other.