Wang Yue
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Cultural distortion and strategies for cultural facsimile in the process of translation from Chinese into RussianMoscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 2. p.41-59read more900
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The distortion of culture is an inevitable issue in the field of crosscultural communication, and the use of suitable translation strategies can enhance the degree of cultural facsimile to some extent. However, there is still a lack of literature on strategies for addressing cultural distortion and promoting cultural facsimile in the context of Chinese-Russian cultural communication, particularly in the field of translation from Chinese into Russian. This article aims to study two common manifestations of cultural distortion and explore the reasons behind them, and based on this, discuss strategies for achieving cultural facsimile. The article points out two specific manifestations of cultural distortion: 1) a certain referent is well known in culture A, but completely unknown to culture B; 2) a certain referent exists in both nations, but the cultural connotations of this referent do not coincide. A more detailed description of the two cultural distortion manifestations is also given in certain sentences from Chinese literature such as “A Dream in Red Mansions”, “Outlaws of the Marsh”, “Fortress Besieged” and their Russian translations. By analyzing and summarizing the causes of cultural distortion, this article advocates that translators should follow the “culture should not be domesticated” principle when translating. Under this principle, the article proposes translation methods such as direct translation, direct translation with annotations, and phonetic translation with annotations, which are of reference value for promoting cultural exchanges between the Chinese and Russian peoples.
Keywords: cultural distortion, cultural facsimile, translation from Chinese into Russian, domestication, foreignization
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The influences of negative transfer of the mother tongue on Chinese college students’ Russian writing and appropriate preventive measuresMoscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.126-145read more653
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Negative transfer of mother tongue is one of the significant factors that influence Chinese college students’ Russian writing skills. Th e present study collects sample data from the writing of college students who select Russian as their second foreign language, utilizes a self-build corpus of negative transfer of mother tongue as the research tool, and selects different research subjects from previous studies. It reveals the influences of the negative transfer of mother tongue on college students’ Russian writing skills in terms of vocabulary, grammar as well as discourse with a comparative method and puts forward corresponding pedagogical implications for Russian writing instruction in order to provide representative data for relevant research and scientific reference for teaching.Keywords: negative transfer of the native language, Chinese students, writing in Russian, teaching methods
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The Phenomenon of Lacunae and Strategies for Their Compensation in the Russian Translation of Yu Hua's Novel To LiveMoscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2026. Vol. 19. № 1. p.85-104read more35
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The phenomenon of lacunae in intercultural communication represents one of the most striking manifestations of mismatches between national languages and cultures and constitutes a central challenge in literary translation. Yu Hua's novel To Live is deeply imbued with historical and cultural content reflecting the specific features of 20th-century Chinese society. Consequently, linguistic peculiarities and cultural symbols inevitably give rise to both linguistic and cultural lacunae when rendered into Russian. This study focuses on the 2014 Russian translation of the novel by Roman Georgievich Shapiro. Employing methods of literary analysis and close textual examination, the paper classifies types of lacunae and analyzes the translator's strategies. The research reveals that these lacunae fall into two primary categories: linguistic (lexical, grammatical, and stylistic-rhetorical) and cultural (material and spiritual). The translator consistently combines domestication and foreignization strategies, employing transliteration, calquing, descriptive substitutions, and other compensatory techniques. Despite occasional inaccuracies, the overall adequacy of the source text rendition and the achieved artistic effect remain high. The findings of this study broaden the interpretive perspectives on the translation of To Live and may serve as a methodological reference for translating contemporary Chinese literature into foreign languages.Keywords: Russian translation of To Live, linguistic lacunae, cultural lacunae, translation strategies, domestication, foreignization
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