“Natural selection” in scientific translation: The history of translating biological terms into Russian

Abstract

Translating new scientific terms is a particularly challenging task for translators of scientific literature. Specialists must define the concepts embedded in terms as precisely as possible and develop a conceptual framework to subsequently build the terminological system of a given scientific field in the target language. Consequently, a translated term may undergo a long process of transformation before reaching its final form. 

This article investigates the history of translation and assimilation of biological scientific terminology into Russian from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century. The relevance of the topic lies in the necessity for translators to study translation history in order to better understand the processes that occur during the translation of scientific literature. 

The article aims to trace and analyze the process of incorporating new scientific terms into Russian, using various translations of the term “natural selection” and the related term “sexual selection” as examples. The study covers the history of the term “natural selection” from its inception in English to its establishment within the Russian terminological system. Examples from translations of works by Charles Darwin and his associates, rendered into Russian by K.A. Timiryazev, M.A. Menzbir, and other translators, are discussed. The author analyzes the translation variants proposed by these scholars, as well as their comments and interpretations of the underlying concepts. The article also compares this process with the establishment of the term “plant breeding” in Russian. 

The study concludes that difficulties in interpreting the concepts embedded in new scientific terms significantly complicate the translation process. However, through the efforts of translators in developing the conceptual apparatus of the science, a stable terminological system gradually emerges in the target language.