A Study on Translation Strategies for Food Imagery in Spanish and English Literary Works from a Cross-Cultural Perspective

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_44How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Don Quixote; Food imagery; Translation strategies

Abstract

Food imagery occupies a significant position in literary works. It not only has a material description but also contains profound cultural symbols and meanings. This study takes the food imagery in the original Spanish version and the English translation of “Don Quixote” as the research object and conducts an in-depth analysis and exploration of the dietary imagery in the work. This study compares and analyzes the transformation of literal translation and free translation in the translation strategy of “Don Quixote” and explores the transformation strategies of translation and the transmission effect of cultural implications from a cross-cultural perspective. Research has found that for foods with Spanish characteristics, English translations employ both literal and free translation to convey the food imagery. However, free translation alone can weaken the connotation of the food, while literal translation without annotations can increase reading difficulties for English readers. Therefore, the translation of food imagery often requires a combination of literal and free translation strategies, taking into account cultural connotations and reader readability. This study reveals the relationship between literal and free translation in the translation of literary works, reflecting the cultural importance of food imagery and the readability for target readers. It also reveals the diversity of food imagery translation in literary works, achieving the transmission of cultural information and laying the foundation for translation from a cross-cultural perspective.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Zihui Yang
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - A Study on Translation Strategies for Food Imagery in Spanish and English Literary Works from a Cross-Cultural Perspective
BT  - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 390
EP  - 396
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_44
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_44
ID  - Yang2025
ER  -