CULTURE OF TRANSLATION IN RUSSIAN LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPES

Abstract

Translation in linguistic landscapes greatly contributes not only to place branding, but also to the urban attractiveness for investment and student mobility. In recent years, the Russian urban space has seen an increase in the number of bilingual linguistic landscape elements–navigation signs, advertisement, informational audio messages. The paper analyses elements of Moscow’s linguistic landscape with the special focus on newly opened popular places to determine the level of translation culture. The results are compared to those of previous studies from other cities of Russia to conclude on the dynamics in the attitude towards translation in linguistic landscapes. According to the results, the higher culture of translation is observed at privately owned places, which are interested in their promotion. Transport hubs and street navigation, in turn, display consistently low dynamics. The study reveals a change in the attitude to translations–the number of bilingual elements in the linguistic landscape of Moscow is decreasing, which may be due to geopolitical changes.