2024. 3 - номер ВМУ Серия 22 Теория перевода

Translation studies: an international dialogue (celebrating the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Russia)

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.7-12

Garbovskiy N. K. Kostikova O.I.

589

Keywords: editorial

An overview of translation technology research in China (2014–2023): A visualization based on CiteSpace

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.13-30

Wang Jiayue Zhang Licheng

659

The research aims to reveal the development trends, hot topics, and future research directions of translation technology research in China. To achieve the identified aims, this article adopts bibliometric methods to systematically analyze translation technology research published in Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) source journals during the period of 2014–2023. It has been found that Chinese scholars have shown a consistently high level of attention to the research into translation technologies; this research in China has formed a cooperative network of institutions centered on well-known foreign language universities; the main hotspots of the current research into translation technologies in China include “text corpus”, “machine translation”, “translator’s style”, “interpretation research”, and so on. Among them, corpus translation research is the most fruitful research direction. Most scholars conduct empirical research and translation style analyses with the help of the corpus technology. In addition, with the development of interdisciplinary research methods, the use of translation technologies to study the cognitive process of translation subjects is becoming an emerging trend; current research into translation technologies is characterized by unevenness. The disciplinary orientation of the field is more in favor of linguistics than computer science. Research results involving technical aspects are relatively few and mainly focus on a few core authors. These findings hint at the future trend of Chinese research in the field of translation technologies: first, to strengthen communication and cooperation with the international academic circle to promote the global sharing of knowledge and technology; second, to expand the diversity of research languages, which not only enriches the scope of application of translation technologies, but also enhances Chinese scholars’ discourse and influence in international academic exchanges. Through these measures, the overall balanced development of the research field of translation technologies can be effectively promoted, and more comprehensive and in-depth knowledge accumulation and technological innovation can be realized.

Keywords: translation technology, translation studies in China, CiteSpace, visualized map of scientific knowledge, bibliometrics

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-13-30

Rhetorical situation as an effective aspect of researching translation activities

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.31-45

Lin Mei

544

As a science that studies the effectiveness and efficiency of speech communication, rhetoric offers its own approach to researching translation as a psychological and speech activity. This paper summarizes researchers’ ideas about the rhetoric of translation, examines the main characteristics of translation activities that determine their rhetorical nature, aiming to reinterpret key concepts in translation studies from a rhetorical perspective and clarify translation activities within the framework of the theory of rhetorical situation. Analyzing the rhetorical situation of translation activities enriches the theory of translation studies on the one hand, while ensuring the effectiveness of translation practice on the other.

Keywords: rhetorical situation, translation activity, rhetorical characteristics, analysis of motivation, audience and conditions

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-31-45

Cultranslatology in China

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.46-61

Yang Shizhang

569

Culture has long been noticed in translation practice, and theoretical research on translation and culture has a history of over 40 years. Unlike the cultural schools of translation studies in the West, Chinese scholars have been studying the construction of cultranslatology based on the ontology of translation, in order to establish cultranslatology as a sub discipline of translation studies. The goal of this article is to study the emergence, establishment, and development of cultranslatology in China, reveal the contributions of Chinese scholars to cultranslatology and even general translation studies, and provide a basis for further promoting cultranslatology. In China, cultural translation research began with the translation of culturemes. Cultural translation is understood as the translation of culturemes. Th e study of cultureme translation has promoted the understanding of translation. Translation is not only a language conversion, but more importantly, it has cultural characteristics. The establishment of this property has expanded the research on translation methodology, translation strategies, and other general translation topics. When the text is revealed to be the highest level of culturemes, cultural transplantation becomes an important dimension of translation studies, laying a solid foundation for the creation of cultranslatology. While exploring the construction of cultranslatology in the sense of translation ontology, many Chinese scholars have also adopted the research orientation of the cultural turn in Western translation studies and conducted fruitful external research on translation. However, this has to some extent also affected the development of cultranslatology, despite the publication of a large number of research results on culture and translation. Since the publication of the first monograph Cultranslatology in the mid-1990s, after a quarter century, another Cultranslatology has been published, which has more systematically and completely constructed this emerging discipline. Cultranslatology includes four research directions: metatheory, historical research, basic theory, and applied research. As the core part of cultranslatology, the basic theory not only requires descriptive research on the process of cultural translation, but also interpretive research on the results of cultural translation. These are two basic conditions that must be met to meet the strict characteristics of the discipline. Nowadays, the basic theory and metatheory of cultranslatology still need to be continuously developed, and the applied research in this discipline is still insufficient, so it has broad research prospects.

Keywords: cultural translation, cultranslatology, cultureme, culture, translation, China

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-46-61

On translating Russian ecological literature in China

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.62-85

Wang Chunju Zhang Junxiang

531

Based on a bibliographic review and specific examples, the article examines the process of translation of Russian ecological literature in China, summarizes the characteristic features of translation practice at different stages of its development, and analyzes the significance of translation activities for the intercultural dissemination of Russian ecological literature and the exchange of ideas on this topic in the historical and social context.

Keywords: Russian ecological literature, Chinese translation, translation process, characteristics of translation practice

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-62-85

An analysis of Chinese paratactic sentences and their translation into Russian

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.86-105

Wang C.

581

Chinese paratactic sentences reflect the main features of the Chinese language, fully demonstrating the spatial peculiarities of the following syntactic constructions: discreteness, chunkiness, and reversibility. The article discusses the translation of Chinese paratactic sentences into Russian, considering the structural differences between the two languages. The aim of this paper is to explore strategies and methods for translating Chinese paratactic sentences into Russian. The scientific novelty of this work lies in presenting five specific lexico-grammatical methods for transferring semantic complexes in translation. It is essential to establish the structural hierarchy of the sentence in the target language, break a long paratactic sentence into several parts based on the semantic level, mark the time and type of predicative verbs following Russian syntax norms, and use various lexical means to avoid monotonous repetition. The research objectives include studying the grammatical and semantic features of Chinese paratactic sentences, identifying structural differences between Chinese paratactic sentences and Russian sentences from a structuralist perspective, describing translation transformations, and analyzing the underlying reasons influencing translation. In conclusion, translating Chinese paratactic sentences into Russian is a complex process that requires consideration of structural, semantic, and cognitive factors.

Keywords: Chinese paratactic sentence, spatial peculiarity, translation from Chinese into Russian, transformation, connecting words

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-86-105

An analysis of semantic repetition in Russian translations of public signs in China

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.106-125

Liu L. Kuang Jieying

517

There are numerous errors in the translation of Chinese public signs, involving various aspects of the language. The methods of comparative analysis and error analysis are used as the primary research methods. This study aims to analyze semantic repetition in Russian translations of Chinese public signs and explore principles for the translation of public signs. The study reveals that semantic repetition in Russian translations of Chinese public signs is primarily manifested through lexical redundancy, which encompasses the repetition of absolute antonyms, synonyms, transliteration and free translation co-occurrence of the same word, the overuse of semantically related words, and pleonasm. In order to avoid redundance in Russian translations of Chinese public signs, this study proposes the “Read, Adapt, Write” principle of translation that requires being simple, concise and clear. Translators ought to strive for easy understanding, adhere to the uniform standard, and reduce repetition according to the actual situation. The findings of the study have significant applications in Chinese-Russian translation courses, Chinese-Russian comparative teaching, and practical language services for guests from Russian speaking countries.

Keywords: public signs, the Chinese language, the Russian language, translation, translation errors, semantic repetition, redundancy

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-106-125

The influences of negative transfer of the mother tongue on Chinese college students’ Russian writing and appropriate preventive measures

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.126-145

Wang Yue Huang Suxin

570

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

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-126-145

Research and analysis of translation practice reports by students studying for their Master’s in Translation at Chinese universities

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.146-171

Gao Guocui Liu Shijia

586

This paper examines the development history and the presentday status of Master of Foreign Language Translation programmes at Chinese colleges and universities. By deeply investigating Russian translation practice reports in the aforementioned colleges and universities, it focuses on the following research questions: (1) what are the main training directions and features of Master of Translation programmes at Chinese colleges and universities? (2) To what degree do Master’s students master Chinese and foreign theories, criteria and principles of translation? (3) What texts are used to research translation practice? (4) To what degree does a specific translation theory correspond to the selected research text? (5) Do case analyses in translation practice reports underscore the key issues in the translation process? As shown by the investigation results, writing a translation practice report at Chinese colleges and universities is characterized by a number of problems. This paper explores the root cause of such problems, proposes some rational improvement recommendations and provides crucial references for the future construction of Master of Translation programmes and dissertation writing.

Keywords: Master of translation and interpreting in Chinese colleges and universities, Translation practice report, Present situation, Cause, Recommendations

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-146-171

The concept of national translation capacity in China: history and prospects

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.172-187

Meng X. Feng Kun

506

Translation, as a cultural, political and economic activity, is an important means of international communication. Its status becomes prominent against the background of the increasingly fierce competition between the global soft power and the global hard power. “National translation capacity” as a new concept contributes to the expansion of the theoretical horizons of translation studies and is in line with the spirit of shaping national discourse in the international arena. This article examines and compares the views of leading Chinese scholars, regarding the interpretation of its definition and highlighting the significant characteristics and indicators.

Keywords: translation, national discourse, national translation capacity, definition, characteristics and indicators

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-172-187

A semantic resource of the comparable and incomparable in the training of future translators

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.188-198

Tsareva N.Yu.

492

In this article, from the perspective of linguodidactics, the phenomenon of antonymy, which is a problem in translation, is considered as a search for semantic dominants. Russian language teaching means that mastering the peculiarities of the emergence and functioning of antonymic pairs becomes one of the leading tasks if we assume that the ultimate goal of teaching is to teach students how to understand and translate texts from Russian into Chinese and vice versa.

Against the background of the classification of antonyms accepted in Russian linguistics, the article analyzes their problem areas, which require sufficiently deep linguistic knowledge in two languages, and the need for a thorough, thoughtful attitude on the part of students to the ways of their translation transformation. Our many years’ experience of working with the Chinese audience allows us to give some recommendations that take into account the difficulties in the formation of language competence in the training of future translators in Chinese universities.

Keywords: linguodidactics, antonymy, antonymic pairs, problem areas, translation, language competence, future translators

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-188-198

Research into language competences and training programmes for highly professional translators willing to work in the field of language services in China

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. № 3. p.199-220

Zhu Yi. Huang Zh.

529

Since the creation of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative in China, there have been clearer requirements for the competences of language service professionals, and the demand for high-quality non-general translators has increased significantly. Russian, one of the official languages of non-native communication, is represented in China by more than 200 colleges and universities offering professional courses. With the introduction of the Master’s and Doctor’s degrees in translation to the national Catalogue of Disciplines and Specialties of Postgraduate Education, the cultivation of high-end applied translation talents in China has entered a new stage of development. High-end translation talents are supposed to have national sense and international vision, master language, translation, culture, technology, management and other professional knowledge, possess translation abilities, cross-cultural abilities, technical abilities, innovation abilities, communication abilities, management abilities and relevant business qualities, understand the development trend of the language service industry, business content, workflow, overseas market and be capable of working in language service positions in various Chinese and overseas institutions or enterprises and agencies. Thus, through collaborative cultivation, platform cultivation, thematic cultivation and technological cultivation, translation talents can consolidate their basic language competence and that in cultural literacy, improve their ability to combine theoretical research with translation and interpreting practice, strengthen their ability to apply translation technologies, and develop the ability to organize translation projects and professionally manage them.

Keywords: competencies; cultivation path; senior translators; language services

DOI Number: 10.55959/MSU2074-6636-22-2024-17-3-199-220

Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2024. 3.