TRANSLATION PROBLEMS OF NUMBERS IN THE NOVELS OF BI FEI-YU (based on the Russian translation of the collection of novels "The Moon Opera")

Abstract

Bi Fei-yu, one of the representatives of Chinese post-60s writers, is an important pillar of the Chinese literary circle. His novels are widely translated abroad. The use of numerals in his novels has specific characteristics. In the process of translating his novels from Chinese into Russian, due to the cultural differences between the two countries and the diverse historical background of translation, the numeral-translating encountered various changes. The article uses the Russian version of the novel collection “The Moon Opera” as the corpus, analyzes specific translation examples, and summarizes the translation barriers and mistranslations of numerals, which can be divided into three types: referential numerals, non-referential numerals (pragmatic function) and idioms with numerals components. The research, based on socio-semiotics approach, puts emphasis on translation motivation and translation equivalence, with the help of which the translator could determine the use of foreignization or domestication. The study proposes the methods of literal translation, literal translation with annotation, free translation and replacement that can be effectively used in translating numerals in literary works.