PRAGMATIC SHIFTS IN TRANSLATING BUDDHIST CULTURE-SPECIFIC ITEMS IN CHINESE-RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC DISCOURSE: A PARALLEL CORPUS STUDY

Abstract

The article investigates the specificities of translating Buddhist culture-specific vocabulary in contemporary Sino-Russian diplomatic texts. Based on a self-compiled bilingual parallel corpus of news communiqués spanning the period from 2014 to 2024, a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the applied translation strategies is conducted. The results of the corpus study demonstrate that the translation of religious culture-specific items is dominated by strategies of neutralization and secularization, implemented primarily through the macro-strategy of domestication. This pragmatic shift is driven by the necessity to adapt sacred concepts to the institutional frameworks of secular political discourse, as well as the objective of avoiding protocol collisions. The study makes a substantial contribution to the development of political linguistics and eco-translatology, proving that the translation of religious vocabulary in diplomacy serves as an instrument for intercultural maneuvering.