Strategies of Rendering English Medical Terminology into Russian Within a Fictional Text

This article explores the problem of rendering medical terminology in a fictional text. The findings are based on the comparative analysis of the original and translated versions of “The Signature of All Things” by E. Gilbert (translated into Russian by Yu. Zmeyeva). The aim of the present study is to analyze the translation procedures applied for rendering medical terminology outside of a specialized text, and to evaluate the Russian version in terms of its adequacy and acceptability. To achieve this aim we used the descriptive statistical analysis, distributional analysis of the translation techniques, contrastive analysis in order to evaluate the translation’s adequacy and acceptability. Results of the study suggest that medical terminology in fiction is rarely rendered by the direct equivalents or borrowings (26.02%), which are reflected in the etymological discrepancy of the source language (SL) and target language (TL) texts. Among the literal translation techniques calques predominated (49.02% vs. 31.37% transcriptions and 19.61% borrowings), while among the oblique translation techniques amplifications took a prominent position (31.72% vs. 10.34% compressions/reductions, 8.28% displacements/inversions, 15.86% transpositions, 9.66% modulations, 13.11% variations, 11.03% discursive creations). Preponderance of amplifications and overall tendency towards oblique rendering signals an acceptability-oriented translation strategy.