Approaches to the Translation of Gender-Related Concepts between English and Russian

Abstract

The thesis research lies within the increasingly popular field of the study of language and gender. Since languages are commonly categorized into grammatical gender, natural gender, and genderless types, the translation between them is a source of some linguistic challenges as previous research has demonstrated. The study investigates the ways professional English-Russian translators adapt to the problematic gender-related aspects through examining their translations complemented by the semi-structured interviews. The focus was in the nouns indicating occupations, both standard and non-standard, as well as on the gender-neutral speech performed by the non-binary speaker whose presentation should be rendered with either masculine or feminine gender indicators according to the grammar standards of Russian. Specifically, the applied translation strategies are placed within the Acceptance-Resistance scale, which demonstrates whether translators follow the standard forms that conform standard gender norms or adopt some experimental units. The eight participants are further interviewed, showing multiple attitudes they hold in terms of gender sensitive language. The results demonstrated a growing awareness of GFL among translators and interpreters and mostly positive attitudes on this type of sensitive language. It was also found that the language professionals try to use widely acceptable language to stay professional, but adapt their speech in accordance with the recommendations of the client. With this in mind, the strategy of gender-neutral rewording was recommended to apply when translating neutral English into Russian. The research emphasizes ethical implications of the chosen translation strategies and helps to understand the way languages mediate gender aspects of the referents. It contributes to the study of language and gender with its outcomes being practical to both editorial and translation fields