Moscow University Translation Studies Bulletin. 2026. 1.

The article deals with the emergence of Jean Piaget’s idea of “transdisciplinarity” that marked the steady advent of a new era in global scientific endeavor, including, in particular, a social and humanitarian component, an important part of which represents the “transdisciplinarity of translatology” in its theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of functioning and development in various spheres of intercultural communication. The Introduction (Section I) succinctly presents the history of the social response emergence to the phenomenon of “transdisciplinarity,” aimed at a fundamental theoretical and methodological shift in scientific, academic, educational, and other spheres of global society. The initial reactions of domestic and foreign translation theory and methodology scholars to the new — transdisciplinary scenario for the translatology development are also highlighted. Section II of the article explores transdisciplinary postulates in general theoretical and applied terms, embodied in specific scientific and methodological sections. It also reflects a brief history of transdisciplinarity implementation in various humanities, particularly in higher education, in the spirit of innovative educational standards that facilitate a shift in higher education toward transdisciplinary academic discourses, as well as in various spheres of life. A detailed description of transdisciplinarity’s essence and content is presented, contrasting it with traditional methodologies of interdisciplinarity and multi-/polydisciplinarity in modern translation studies. Section III highlights the challenges of transdisciplinarity in translation theory and practice, with particular attention paid to the phenomenon of “localization” and the application of AI in transdisciplinary translations. Finally, it is stated that translation is, by its very nature, a transdisciplinary act, crossing the boundaries of languages, cultures, and fields of knowledge.

This article explores the epistemological boundaries of artificial intelligence in the field of translation, moving beyond the technical challenges of neural networks. Drawing on the philosophy of language of Ludwig Wittgenstein, particularly the concepts of “language games” and “family resemblance,” the author considers translation as a tool for conveying meaning rather than a simple exchange of lexical and grammatical units. An analysis of errors systematically reproduced by various translation programs (Google, DeepL, Yandex Translate, ChatGPT) when working with Russian-language texts has revealed key limitations of AI: the inability to distinguish subjective authorial intentions, difficulties in adapting to new contexts of existing concepts, as well as the disregard for the pragmatic level of communication and text types. The paper substantiates the thesis that, despite the ability to analyze context within the text (text-centeredness), AI remains insensitive to the intersubjective nature of language, where meaning is formed in the dialogue between the speaker and the listener. It is concluded that AI is only capable of a “paraphrase of content” but cannot convey the subjective enunciation of the author, the speaker’s intentions, or the listener’s evaluative judgments, which constitutes the space of the untranslatable for artificial intelligence.

Within the framework of the cognitive-discursive approach to translation, which views translation as an activity mediated by the "objective" and "cognitive" worlds of its participants (author, translator, reader), existing studies on Russian translations of Confucius's The Analects remain fragmented. While these works address either the history of translations or specific cognitive aspects of translation, a comprehensive model explaining the historical variability of translations through the interaction of all translation subjects is still lacking. This study aims to develop and empirically verify an interactive model of interaction between translation subjects, tested on Russian translations of Confucius's The Analects from the 19th to the 21st centuries. The research employs theoretical analysis of literature on cognitive translation studies and the history of Russian Sinology; content analysis of four translations of the Analects (by V.P. Vasilyev, I.I. Semenenko, A.E. Lukyanov, and L.S. Perelomov); historical-cultural analysis to reconstruct the context and goals of translations in the missionary and sinological periods; and cognitive-discursive analysis to identify the relationship between specific lexical choices and the factors described in the model. As a result, an interactive model has been developed in which the translator reconciles their own "objective world" with the "cognitive world" of the author and the perceived "cognitive world" of the reader under the influence of the translation purpose and individual characteristics. A comparative analysis of a key fragment from The Analects demonstrates that the shift from the missionary paradigm (Vasilyev's adaptive "variegated cow") to the academic sinological paradigm (Perelomov's precise "draught ox calf") is a systematic consequence of differences in the translators' "objective worlds" and goals. The analysis confirms that the proposed model fills the identified research gap by providing a systematic tool to explain the evolution of translation strategies through objective patterns of interaction between translation subjects within a specific historical and cultural context. The model's practical value lies in its applicability for comparative translation analysis, historical translation criticism, and pedagogical practice in teaching translation history, intercultural communication, and Sinology.

The present study aims to compare approaches to translating puns in the TV show Young Sheldon when translation is performed by: 1) a professional translator; 2) students of the Translation in Professional Communication programme; 3) artificial intelligence systems. Since sitcom humour relies on cognitive ambiguity, character-specific speech patterns, and culturally embedded references, the accurate translation of puns becomes a pertinent test for assessing the potential of current AI systems. The main methods used in the research include contextual, translational, linguostylistic, and pragmatic analysis. 

The results show that all groups of translators employ a similar set of techniques: pun retention, pun omission, and humour recreation. This research provides evidence that ChatGPT and DeepSeek are more efficient at conveying the comic effect when translating puns than the voice assistant Alisa. In addition, each neural network exhibits distinctive features of an "individual translation style." Artificial intelligence systems such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek demonstrate a certain capacity to identify and translate puns based on polysemy, generally choosing techniques similar to those of professional translators. DeepSeek more frequently relies on a broad context and explains its translation choices, whereas ChatGPT and Alisa do not take the pun's environment into account and, consequently, are unable to preserve a consistently constructed character image with specific communicative traits during translation; Alisa refuses to translate puns on religious topics and tends toward a literal rendering of meaning. 

As for student translations, they tend to recreate puns, and the statistical pattern of translation techniques they use is different. Moreover, in the proposed variants, there is a shift in the pun's theme, which can negatively affect the text's integrity but at the same time indicates the linguistic creativity of the learners. 

The problem of asymmetry in the presuppositional knowledge of the recipients of the original and translated media texts remains unresolved in the translations offered by artificial intelligence, while anthropogenic translation aims to compensate for it. 

The findings further reveal that, despite significant progress, AI systems still fail to reproduce the pragmatic depth and cultural presuppositions inherent in polysemy-based puns. The findings highlight the need for further development of humour-sensitive algorithms and point to the pedagogical value of AI translations in translator training.

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.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the informatization of society driven by the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence has profoundly transformed education, including Russian — Chinese interpreting training at Chinese universities. The aim of the study is to substantiate and empirically test a project-based learning (PBL) model as a tool for the digital transformation of interpreter training. Methodology combines quantitative (Likert-Scale Questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews, project report analysis) methods. Results show that PBL integrating real-life projects and ICT tools helps students develop professional competences such as digital literacy and adaptability to new interpreting formats. Conclusions: successful implementation requires fostering innovative learning approaches among students, enhancing teachers' digital literacy, and upgrading the technical infrastructure.

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence technologies, together with the ongoing revision of operational requirements and working regulations within the UN system, calls for a fundamental rethinking of established didactic approaches in translation and interpreting (T&I) education. This article focuses on the conceptual gaps between traditional T&I training and emerging professional realities, as identified during expert discussions held at the UN Information Centre in Moscow. A key gap concerns the ambivalent role of machine translation in the educational process. On the one hand, the growing presence of machine translation in the industry necessitates the development of post-editing competences. On the other hand, an overreliance on neural networks risks eroding fundamental language skills, without which the stylistic precision and accuracy expected of a UN linguist remain unattainable. Concrete experimental data indicate that when processing large, multi-genre texts, editing machine output requires time and effort comparable to producing a full human translation. These findings suggest that the early and extensive introduction of neural network tools in T&I training may not be pedagogically optimal. A further didactic challenge raised at the seminar is the demand for a “polyvalent” (multiskilled) specialist proficient in both translation and interpreting — including theme, version, and retour — within a genuinely multilingual environment. In contrast to the globally dominant model of separate programmes (e.g. Master of Arts in Translation vs Master of Arts in Conference Interpreting), HSTI at Lomonosov Moscow University has been developing an integrative didactic system in which well-developed translation skills serve as the foundation for building interpreting competence. Another problematic aspect raised during the discussions and highlighted in this article is the weakening of pre-university language training, which complicates the task of producing highly qualified T&I personnel.

This article examines the cognitive difficulties involved in translating Russian medical terms, including clinical terminology, into Chinese. The focus is placed not only on formal differences between the two languages but also on errors in interpreting term meanings, incomplete recognition of word-formation structures, misinterpretation of terminologized everyday words, abbreviations, and metaphorical models. The aim of the study is to identify the main types of cognitive difficulties arising in the translation of Russian medical terms into Chinese and to describe the mechanisms for overcoming them. 

The methodological framework combines cognitive and contrastive analysis with elements of translation studies and linguocultural analysis. The material includes Russian medical terms and stable terminological collocations used in scientific, educational, and clinical practice, as well as their Chinese equivalents. The paper examines four key groups of difficulties: interpretation of the word-formation structure of terms, terminologization of everyday words, translation of clinical abbreviations and diagnostic designations, and reconstruction of metaphorical models in the target language. 

The analysis shows that most translation errors are caused not by the absence of dictionary equivalents as such, but by a disruption in the relationship between the form of a term, its conceptual structure, and its professional context of use. It is demonstrated that an adequate translation of Russian medical terminology into Chinese requires not a literal reproduction of linguistic form but a conceptual reconstruction of meaning in accordance with the norms of Chinese medical nomination. The findings may be used in the training of medical translators, in the compilation of bilingual terminological dictionaries, and in further studies of Russian–Chinese professional communication.

The article is devoted to a relevant topic — the study of the translator's personality in the course of translation activity, with the aim of identifying the most significant processes and properties as individual personal characteristics that influence both the process and the outcome of this activity. Based on the results of an analysis of scientific publications on the issue of the translator's "linguistic persona," the author concludes that the available data represent a "sum of fragmented information" that does not provide a holistic view of the object and therefore requires the application of ideas from general systems theory, specifically the establishment of systemic connections and relationships between its elements. The author sets the task, drawing on scholarly works in translation studies, personality theory, personality psychology, activity theory, and management theory, to integrate various personal characteristics of the translator as a subject of professional activity into a universal unified system, whose structure and functioning could reflect the professional traits that influence the translation process. The study employs system-structural and system-transdisciplinary approaches, since the translation process is determined not only by the relationship between the translator's "personality" and their "activity," but also by their interaction with the external "environment." These "interrelations" are visualized by the author in the form of two universal schemes that reflect cause-and-effect relationships between the components of the translator's "personality" structure and the components of the "activity" they perform. This made it possible to identify and describe the most significant of these components in the context of the translation process. In conclusion, it is stated that the system-transdisciplinary approach has led to the understanding that the same translated text undergoes modification depending on specific processes and properties reflecting the multi-level structure of personality. This structure consists of components that characterize individual personal qualities, which exert a decisive influence on both the process and the outcome of translation activity, ultimately shaping the translator's individual and unique style.

Object. To uncover strategies of cultural and ideological reinterpretation. This research paper examines the multifaceted cultural journey of Brandon Thomas's seminal Victorian farce "Charley's Aunt" (1892) into Russian-language literary, theatrical, and cinematic traditions, tracing its adaptations from pre-revolutionary Russia to the late Soviet era. By analyzing the play's transformation across ideological, aesthetic, and socio-political contexts, the study illuminates the mechanisms of cultural translation and the role of adaptation as a tool for negotiating foreign narratives within localized frameworks. Central to the investigation is the Soviet-era film adaptation Zdrávstvuíte, ia vásha tió tia! (Hello, I'm Your Aunt!, 1975), directed by Viktor Titov, which serves as a case study for exploring the interplay between socialist cultural policy, artistic innovation, and the subversive potential of comedy under censorship. 

Methods. Consists of comparative textual analysis and archival research. Findings. Checking effectiveness of methods of cultural adaptation in translation. 

Conclusions. The enduring success and comedic potency of this work stem from its flexible structure, built upon universal archetypes (cross-dressing, social mimicry, absurd predicament), which proved exceptionally adaptable for cultural transplantation. The Russian interpretations, from 19th-century translations to Soviet cinematic versions, demonstrate not mere linguistic translation but a process of deep cultural transposition. The central mechanism of this adaptation has been the replacement of Victorian social codes with relevant local realities: English student traditions and class conventions were substituted by Soviet-era bureaucratic and domestic absurdities, recognizable social types, and linguistic clichés. In the literary sphere (translation by I.I. Rubinshtein), this manifested in the Russification of daily life and speech patterns, aligning the characters with familiar types from the Russian comedic tradition. In cinema, particularly in the film "Tyotya Charleya" ("Charley's Aunt", 1975), the adaptation reached its peak: the plot's framework was preserved but filled with purely Soviet grotesquery, satire on scarcity, petty-bourgeois attitudes, and careerism, realized through the visual and acting styles of Soviet eccentric comedy. Thus, the history of the Russian reception of Charley's Aunt vividly illustrates the dynamics of intercultural comedy. Its lasting resonance is ensured not by literal fidelity to the original but by the adapters' ability to find precise cultural equivalents for the source's comic mechanics. Having passed through the filters of Russian and Soviet sensibilities, Thomas's play became part of the national comedic canon, proving its timeless appeal and the universal adaptability of its farcical core.