A Study of Translation Aesthetics in“A Bite of China”

Jia+Hui

【Abstract】A Bite of China is a popular documentary that introduces Chinese food， tradition and culture. Since broadcasting， it is so successful that a literary form imitating this documentary was created. The key to the great success of A Bite of China lies in the beauty of its language. This paper aims at studying the translation of A Bite of China from the perspective of aesthetics， discussing how to convey the beauty of language on the level of rhythm， artistic conception and culture.

【Key words】translation aesthetics； rhythm； artistic conception； culture

In addition to an extremely rich content， A Bite of China is famous for its beauty of image， sound and language， which contributes a lot to its success. To convey such beauty in the translation is important.

1. Translation Aesthetics

Translation Aesthetics theory employs basic aesthetic principles， discusses the significance of aesthetics on translation， and analyses， elaborates and solve aesthetic issues occurred in interlingual transfer （Mao， 2005）. In order to convey the beauty of the source text， translation process can be divided into the following five steps：to understand the source text （ST）， to scan aesthetic elements in the ST， to initially form the target text （TT）， to optimize aesthetic elements in TT， finish the TT （Liu， 2011：91）.

The first step is a prerequisite for achieving the accuracy in the TT；the second step is a key， in A Bite of China， the beauty of language is embodied in rhythm， artistic conception and culture；the third and forth steps mainly focus on expression， in the third step， information and aesthetic elements in the ST should be conveyed， while in the forth step， the translation should be optimized in accordance with the ways of expression of target readers in order to improve readers experience. Therefor， in the last step， a target text which is “accurate， beautify， and close to target readers” can be achieved.

2. Analysis of the translation of A Bite of China

As mentioned above， the language beauty of A Bite of China is mainly embodied in rhythm， artistic conception and culture. Thus the translation can be analyzed in these three aspects.

2.1 Rhythm

The language beauty of A Bite of China is first reflected in its rhyme and rhythm. Given to the difference in pronunciation and structure between Chinese and English， it is difficult to transfer the “rhyme” in the English version， therefore to achieve the beauty of sound in the TT， a good cadence is a must. The good rhythm in the transcript is mainly demonstrated by the four-letter expressions and sentence parallelism， for example：endprint

1）這是鹽的味道、山的味道、風的味道、云的味道，這也是時間的味道、人情的味道。這些味道，已經在漫長的時光中和故土、鄉親、念舊、勤儉、堅忍等情感及信念混合在一起，才下舌頭，又上心頭。

It is the taste of salt， the taste of the mountains， the taste of the wind， the taste of clouds， the taste of time， and the taste of human emotions. Theyve been closely tied to the land， the people hard work and persistence for a very long time. They meet at the tip of the tongue， and within the heart.

In this sentence， the use of parallelism stresses the word “taste” and reinforces the strong cadence. In the translation， the same structure is also used， but fails to show the compact rhythm. To translate into “the taste of salt， the taste of mountain， of wind， of clouds， but also the taste of time and human emotions” could be better.

2）在葉師傅看來，家鄉的農家火腿是世上最美味的火腿。當然，他也一定知道，在距古徽州不遠的浙江金華，有一種更加著名的火腿，肌紅脂白，香氣濃郁，滋味鮮美。

Chef Ye believes that the ham from his hometown is the best in the world， even though he knows that the ham from nearby Jinhua Zhejiang is better known. The lean and fragrant meat of Jinhua ham is red marbled with white.

In this sentence， the four-letter expression is used to strengthen the sense of rhythm. The TT achieved accuracy， but doesnt transfer the beauty of the ST， because the lack of cadence.

These two examples show how important the rhythm is to keep and well transfer the beauty of the ST.

2.2 Artistic Conception

Artistic conception is an important concept in literature， it combines objective scenery with subjective feelings to create vivid images. A Bite of China， uses artistic conception to express the unique beauty of Chinese food and culture.

3）制作火腿炒飯，熱熱的米飯混上肉丁，用手趁熱團在一起，使得米香和肉香混合起來，趁熱吃味道最好。

A popular local dish is stir-fried rice with small heaps of ham， which is eaten with hands.

This sentence describes the stir-fried rice in detail， the word “hot” and “fragrance” and the detailed cooking process create a vivid image， and give a warm feeling. However， the translation neglects these key words， thus could not transfer the deeper meaning of the ST. A better version could be “A popular local dish is stir-fried rice. Hot rice is rolled with heaps of ham by hand， fragrances of rice and meat are mixed， and it tastes pretty good.”

To transfer the beauty of A Bite of China， the artistic conception cannot be neglected.

2.3 Culture

A Bite of China is not just a programme of food， it is in fact， a programme that introduces Chinese culture with a long history and varity. The documentary introduces the key values of Chinese culture， such as the harmony between human and nature， diligence， creativity， it also demonstrates cultural beauty of different regions， strikes a chord with Chinese people and reinforce the sense of culture admitting. Therefore， culture is the most important and beautiful element which must be translated accurately in the TT.

3. Conclusion

The above analysis concludes that to transfer the beauty of A Bite of China， attention should be paid to rhythm， artistic conception and culture.

References：

[1]Munday，Jeremy.（2001）.Introducing Translation Studies – Theories and Applications.London and New York：Routledge.

[2]劉宓慶.翻譯美學原理[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，2011.

[3]毛新貴.翻譯美學[M].上海：上海交通大學出版社，2005.endprint