Cross cultural issues in translation and interpretation topic cultural factors in translating terms of food

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH CROSS CULTURAL ISSUES IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION TOPIC CULTURAL FACTORS IN TRANSLATING TERMS OF FO[.]

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF

ENGLISH

CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION

TOPIC: CULTURAL FACTORS IN

TRANSLATING TERMS OF FOOD

Student : TRẦN THỊ TÚ UYÊN

I

Lecturer : Dr TRƯƠNG BẠCH LÊ

Huế, tháng 12 năm 2022

ABSTRACT

“Food is for many the most sensitive and important expression of national culture; food terms are subject to the widest variety of translation procedures” (Truong, 2009, p.90) For this reason, food clearly reflects cultural identity and values Translating terms of food

is not a simple subject as it demands the well-rounded knowledge, comprehension and fluency of both source language and target language of translators The excellent translation of terms of food contributes to readers’ perception of foreign cultures as well as makes them understand more about the countries they learn.

The main concern in this assignment is to examine how culture-specific features affect food terms when translated from English into Vietnamese and vice versa Once the cultural factors are identified, I would like to provide some strategies to deal with the problem relating to terms of food translation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

III CULTURAL FACTORS AFFECTING TRANSLATING 6 TERMS OF FOOD

IV STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING TERMS OF FOOD 9 FROM ENGLISH TO VIETNAMESE AND VICE VERSA

REFERENCES

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I INTRODUCTION

Food is an indispensable part of our health and well-being It also deeply reflects cultural values and identity Many people from one country travel to other countries in order to experience, and explore the special and unique culture of the countries where they set foot Food translation is vitally important because it helps readers comprehend and understand clearly many terms relating to food of the country they learn

Nguyen (2010) said that the popular dishes of Vietnamese dishes are formed very ancient times, even in their difficult life Vietnam is a tropical country, with year-round hot and humid rainy weather changing over the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter English food is diverse too There are many kinds of food, cooking methods, and implements that are different from Vietnamese cuisine For this reason, the translated name of the dishes is very necessary and important It not only promotes the brand name of Vietnamese and English dishes but also helps readers who learn about the terms of foreign food understand clearly However, the translation of the name

of Vietnamese dishes into English and English dishes into Vietnamese is not simple It requires translators to have well-rounded knowledge, comprehension and fluency between source languages and target language

The main concern in this assignment is to examine how culture-specific features affect terms of food when they are translated from English into Vietnamese and vice versa Once the cultural factors are identified, I would like to provide some strategies to deal with the problem relating to the terms of food translation

II TERMS OF FOOD

1 Vietnamese food’s features

There are some features of Vietnamese culinary culture Firstly, Vietnamese cuisine is rich and diverse Vietnam is an agricultural country in the tropical monsoon region,

divided into three distinct regions of North, Central and South Each region has its culinary culture and taste, having seen the variety of dishes from the name, materials, processing, colour to the way of enjoying and decorating This has contributed to the richness of Vietnamese cuisine Secondly, the little use of fat makes dishes fresh and simple Almost Vietnamese food is natural, nutritious, and healthful due to the use of raw materials mainly from vegetables, fruits; and not much meat so the food is less fat but gentle and delicate, in conformity with the current trend of the world Thirdly, Vietnamese food is a combination of tasty spices Vietnamese cuisine is characterized

by the harmony of mixing ingredients and spices, which is not too spicy, too sweet or too fatty Especially, the spices for Vietnamese dishes are extremely rich Typical spices such as fish sauce, seasonings, glutamate, garlic, onion, lemongrass and sugar are used frequently in most dishes of the Vietnamese, making a diversity of sour, spicy, salty, sweet, and fatty tastes There are also sauces such as soy sauce, and soy sauce to make the dish full of flavours

2 English food’s feature

Traditional dishes, which are often found in the meals of the English are braised meat, fried fish, cheese, and pies In the restaurants, two main dishes you can easily catch are fish and potatoes with varied types of processing In addition, tea culture is also derived from England which has the largest tea consumption in the world The English tradition

of tea and bakery originated in few hundred years ago, and so far the culture has not changed Generally, they usually drink tea in the afternoons and evenings, sometimes in the morning of the holidays to relax, and reduce stress after hard work days When enjoying tea, the English often prefer to enjoy different types of cakes and salads, especially sandwiches

3 Terms of food

E Husted (2006) said: “Tested recipes and good measuring techniques help ensure good results when cooking and baking It’s also important to understand the terms

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used in the instructions of a recipe.” Each term has a specific meaning Understanding these terms and using the correct procedure contribute to the success of the food product The terms describe techniques to use when working with the ingredients Terms of food focused in this paper include the availability of ingredients, measurements, methods, implements, pots and pans

III CULTURAL FACTORS AFFECTING TRANSLATING TERMS OF FOOD

1 Availability of ingredients

Epstein (2009) said that in spite of the growing popularity of cooking nowadays and the new trendiness certain of cultural ingredients, the fact remains that not all items are available in all countries or the items are available but with overpriced cost

Due to the differences in geographical location and climate, some kinds of food and ingredients only appear in a particular country Therefore, we cannot avoid seeing a very strange dish on the foreign menu Being a tropical monsoon country, Viet Nam has got a variety of food, especially vegetables, some of which may not be found in other countries

For instance, “rau muống”, “khổ qua”, “măng”, “rau má”, “rau mùng tơi” are the most

popular vegetables served for daily meals of Vietnamese The foreigners travelling to Viet Nam get confused about these vegetables and somehow, the translators do not know how to call them or to explain to the foreigners There are some suggestions in the

dictionary such as “water spinach”, “bitter melon”, “bamboo shoots”, “pennywort”, and

“Ceylon spinach” Notwithstanding, the foreigners may not understand all of these words, so the translators must explain the vegetables in their characteristics as “rau

muống” is a kind of vegetable which is grown in water, often chopped into thin chips

and eaten raw as salad or steamed and stir-fried with garlic

Availability is one of the most important cultural factors affecting directly the translation It requires translators to have well-rounded knowledge about these factors, especially providing explanations in need

2 The factors of measurement

Measurement systems are different among many countries In terms of the unit of mass, while the Pound or Ounce is used in America, in Vietnamese use kilogram Therefore, it requires time to convey the measurement to another one

For example, the table below is a Measurements Conversion Chart which is popularly used in cooking:

The measurement is one of the cultural factors deciding the result of the food so it couldn’t be ignored in translation The lack of knowledge about measurement conversion will probably cause some misunderstandings as well as make the translation unclear

3 The factors of cooking methods

As humans discover so many cooking methods, there would be some common ways of cooking in many countries worldwide The diversity of cooking methods can depend on what kind of cooking implements, the level of heat and the target of cookers

In Viet Nam, there are several common cooking methods which are also found in other countries:

Vietnamese cooking English Definition

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method translation

it cooks in the steam Nevertheless, there are also some kinds of cooking methods which are considered to be specific in each country Therefore, translators have to explain the cooking methods carefully in order to avoid misunderstanding

Besides equivalents between both SL and TL, several traditional cooking methods in Vietnamese and English listed in the table below should be explained carefully to avoid misunderstanding

Vietnamese cooking methods:

Vietnamese English Definition

cooking methods translation

temperature slightly below boiling

little fat and liquid

of liquid

English cooking methods:

English Vietnamese Definition

cooking translation

methods

Caramelize Tạo nước To heat sugar or foods containing sugar until

Braise

đường thắng

Rán

Om

brown colour and characteristic flavour develop

To brown the surface of the meat with a short application of intense heat

To cook meat or poultry slowly in a covered utensil in a small amount of liquid or in steam

(Meat may or may not be browned in a small amount of fat before braising.)

The way of cooking affects the taste, and smell of food, some may appear in the name

of the dish so the translator has to get knowledge about the cooking methods in which the dishes are cooked

IV STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING TERMS OF FOOD FROM ENGLISH TO VIETNAMESE AND VICE VERSA

After finding some cultural factors affecting the way terms of food, I would like to suggest some strategies and examples to deal with this issue These strategies would help translators to apply and complete a good translation in terms of food so that they can help readers understand the target language clearly

1 Strategy of using loan words

“This strategy is particularly common in dealing with culture-specific items, modern concepts, and buzzwords” (Nguyen, 2013, p 35) There are two ways of using loan word strategy Firstly, a word in SL (source language) is directly taken into the TL (target language) text without explanation (a loan word without modification)

For example:

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The second way is a loan word, along with a generic word modified as to form or

function or both of them “Following the loan word with an explanation is very useful

when the word in question is repeated several times in the text Once explained, the loan

word can be used on its own, the reader can understand it and is not distracted by further

lengthy explanation” (Nguyen, 2013, p.35)

For instance:

The bold words are the generic words which make the dish easy to imagine This

strategy is used when the TL has no equivalent for the SL unit There are some

advantages of this strategy First, it is a good choice when the translators find no

equivalent word in TL as it is straightforward and easy to understand Secondly, it gives

a sense of intimacy to the reader when reading generic words In addition, using a loan

word (foreign name) makes it attractive and tempting to readers And finally, “if a loan

word is used, it is important that in each occurrence the context contains enough

information so that the meaning of the source language is not lost or distorted” (Truong,

2009, p.69)

2 Strategy of equivalence by cultural substitute

This strategy is “an approximate translation where a SL cultural word is translated by a

TL cultural word.” (Newmark, 1988, p.83)

Source language Target language

Thịt heo nướng

Bánh xèo

Chả lụa

Grilled pork Pancake Sausage

The translator should only use this strategy when two dishes in two different countries are equivalent or have some similarities The advantage of this strategy is giving “the reader a concept with which he/she can identify, something familiar and appealing” (Baker, 1992, p.31) Besides, it makes readers a more rounded understanding of the country of TL Nevertheless, it also has drawbacks such as the reader's misunderstanding that the equivalent is the same so it causes some negative effects on cultural identity

3 Strategy of literal translation

Literal translation or word-for-word translation is the rendering of text from one language to another one word at a time with or without conveying the sense of the original whole “The SL grammatical construction is converted to the nearest TL equivalences but the lexical words are again translated singly, out of context” (Nguyen,

2010, p 18)

For example:

Source language Target language

Bún măng vịt

Cơm hến

Kẹo mè xửng

Bamboo shoots and duck noodle soup Rice with mussels

Sesame sprinkled gum

The advantage of this strategy is providing the readers or listeners with a general understanding of the food However, this strategy requires the translator to be comprehensive in both languages If the translator doesn’t have good knowledge of both

SL and TL languages, the translation may be wrong and not understandable

4 Strategy of paraphrasing

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In this strategy, the meaning of the food terms will be explained The source item will

be translated by a definition, description or a similar linguistic expansion

There are two ways of this strategy: translation by paraphrasing using related words and translation by paraphrasing using unrelated words

a Translation by paraphrasing using related words

This strategy tends to be used when the concept expressed by the SL item is lexicalized

in the TL but in a different form

For example:

Source language Target language Back translation

Thịt kho Fatty pork and eggs Thịt nhiều mỡ và trứng được

braised in coconut hầm trong nước dừa water

Cá kho Fish cooked with sauce Cá được kho với nước mắm

Nước mía Sugar cane juice Nước ép từ cây mía được trộn

mixed with kumquat với nước ép quất juice

The black bold words of SL are related to the words in TL Besides changing the form, the translator adds more information in order to make the translation clear

b Translating by paraphrasing using unrelated words

Instead of related words, the paraphrase may be based on modifying a superordinate or simply on unpacking the meaning of the source item, particularly if the item in question

is semantically complex

Source language Target language Back translation

Bánh trôi nước Stuffed sticky rice ball Những viên làm từ nếp được nhồi

Bánh bao

Bánh dày

Steamed wheat flour cake Round sticky rice cake

Bánh làm từ bột mỳ được hấp lên Bánh hình tròn từ nếp

There is no related word between SL and TL, so the translator has to be good at both languages to translate It means that the translator has to understand clearly the cultural aspects of two countries, and two cultures

“The main advantage of the paraphrase strategy is that it achieves a high level of precision on specifying propositional meaning” (Nguyen, 2013, p.36)

However, translators have to consider the disadvantages of this strategy There might be

an imbalance of length between the target language and the source language which is hardly expected

V CONCLUSION

In short, translating terms of food is not simple for translators as well as interpreters since it requires knowledge and understanding of culture and practical experiences Due

to the limitations of this study, examples provided in this assignment cannot cover all cases in reality The variety of food terms cannot be counted to the end so no matter how proficient the translator is, the translation might lose a certain degree of meaning of the original text Therefore, a translator must constantly improve personal knowledge, and understanding of various areas and cultures of different countries In spite of the suggested strategies, the creativity of a translator is particularly important

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