从文化角度比较《红楼梦》饮食名称的翻译

A Contrast Study of the Translations of Foods and Drinks in A Dream of the Red Mansions from the Perspective of Culture

文章以杨宪益和Hawkes的两个《红楼梦》英译本为依据,从文化差异的视角出发,对小说中一些典型的饮食名称如六安茶、老君眉、奶子糖梗米粥、饺子、莲叶羹、茄鲞等的翻译进行了比较与分析。认为,由于各个国家、民族的文化存在差异,词汇语义必然打上文化烙印,隐含不同文化内涵,所以语言翻译必须是建构在一定的文化基础上的信息交流。

This paper discusses the translation of the names of foods and drinks in Chinese classic magnum opus A Dream of the Red Mansions from the perspective of cultural differences, and argues that the names of foods and drinks in this novel are culturally-loaded, which must be taken into account in translating them into English. Through an analysis of some typical food and drink names in the two English versions of A Dream of the Red Mansions, by Yang Xuanyi and Hawkes respectively, it is concluded that, considering the great differences in cultural connotations between lexemes in two languages, translation should be regarded as a kind of culturally filtered information communication.