Bogushevskaya Victoria 

Victoria Bogushevskaya has been Associate Professor of Chinese Language, Linguistics, and Translation at the University of Bergamo since November 2024. Prior to this, she held the position of Associate Professor at the University of Salento (2021–2024), and served as Adjunct Professor at both the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (2011–2021) and the University of Urbino “Carlo Bo” (2010–2012).

She holds a double degree: a BA in Modern Chinese from Beijing Language and Culture University (China), and an Honours Degree in Chinese Philology from Far Eastern State University (Vladivostok, Russia). Her Ph.D. (kandidat nauk) in Chinese Linguistics (code 10.02.22) was awarded by the Institute of Asian and African Studies at M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, with a dissertation on the semantics of Chinese colour terms.

Having lived and worked in Beijing for over a decade — initially as a student, later as an interpreter at a Chinese–Russian joint venture — she deepened her practical command of the language and enriched her cultural and linguistic expertise through sustained immersion.

She has held visiting professorships at the University of Zurich (2013), Ruhr University Bochum (2017), University of Sofia (2018), and Lomonosov Moscow State University (2018).

Her research interests include:

1.     Lexicalisation and categorisation of Chinese colour terms, examined diachronically

2.     Proverbs and other semi-lexicalised phrasal units, with a focus on rhetoric, stylistics, and media language

3.     Prosodic morphology, especially palindromic and palindromic-like structures in Modern Chinese at both word and sentence levels

4.     Acquisition of written Chinese, with attention to neuro- and psycholinguistic dimensions

Specialised vocabulary and lexicology in Modern Chinese, including toponomastics within the Chinese–Russian language contact zone 

1.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2016) “Of oxen and horses: Semantic shifts in early Chinese colour lexicon”. Papers of the 12th International Conference on Languages of Far East, Southeast Asia and West Africa (LESEWA), Lomonosov Moscow State University, 16-17 November 2016, eds. Kasevič, B.V., Vixrova, A.Ju., Rumjanceva, I.M. Moscow: Jazyki Narodov Mira, pp. 42-51. ISBN 978-5-9909120-4-5.

2.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2017) “Sportswear brand names adaptation from alphabetic languages into Modern Standard Mandarin and vice versa”. Lingue e Linguaggi, vol. 22, special issue: Il Nome del Prodotto. Marchi, Termini e Professioni, eds. Assunta Caruso, Claudio Grimaldi. University of Salento, pp. 21-47. ISSN 2239-0367, e-ISSN 2239-0359, DOI: 10.1285/i22390359v22p21 (blind peer reviewed) (rivista fascia A per il settore concorsuale 10/N3).

3.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2017) “Guànyòngyǔ 慣用語 (Idioms and Common Sayings)”. In Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics, eds. Rint Sybesma, Wolfgang Behr, Yueguo Gu, Zev Handel, C.-T. James Huang, James Myers, vol. II, pp. 333-340. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-26223-2, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2210-7363_ecll_COM_000301 (peer reviewed; capitolo in volume di rilievo internazionale).

4.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2017) “Yànyǔ 諺語 (Proverbs)”. In Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics, eds. Rint Sybesma, Wolfgang Behr, Yueguo Gu, Zev Handel, C.-T. James Huang, James Myers, vol. IV, pp. 642-649. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-26225-6, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2210-7363_ecll_COM_00000469 (peer reviewed; capitolo in volume di rilievo internazionale).

5.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2018) “The journey of the “apple from China”: A cross-linguistic study on the psychological salience of the colour term for orange”. In Progress in Colour Studies: Cognition, language and beyond, eds. Lindsay W. MacDonald, Carole P. Biggam, and Galina V. Paramei. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 301-313. ISBN 978 90 272 0104 1 (Hb), ISBN 978 90 272 6382 7 (e-book), DOI: 10.1075/z.217.16bog (peer reviewed; capitolo in volume di rilievo internazionale).

6.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2018) “What’s in a name? On the concept and the ways of naming ART in Chinese”. Current Issues in Contemporary Chinese and Oriental Studies. Papers of the International Conference, Dedicated to the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Chinese Studies Program at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", vol. 1, eds. A. Alexiev, A. Tsankova, V. Karastojčev, E.Hein, T. Koutzarova, M. Merinova, and S. Ivančev. Sofia University Press, pp. 78-86. ISBN 978-954-07-4550-3 (peer reviewed).

7.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2023) “Chinese Color Language”. In Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology, 2nd edition, ed. Renzo Shamey. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer. Online ISBN 978-3-642-27851-8, pp.132-147. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_433-1 (peer reviewed; capitolo in volume di rilievo internazionale).

8.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2023) “Replaced but not forgotten: On sinicised and Sinitic toponyms in Primorkij kraj”. In: V.Bogushevskaya – A. De Angeli (a cura di), Una nuova lettura della Russia come ponte tra Cina ed Europa, volume monografico di Sulla via del Catai, maggio 2023, n.28, pp.131-155. ISSN 1970-3449 (blind peer reviewed) (rivista fascia A per il settore concorsuale 10/N3, indicizzata su Scopus).

9.  Bogushevskaya, V. (2024) “A study in scarlet: Cultural memory of the tropes related to the colour red, female countenance and onstage makeup in the Sinophone world”. Semiotica, n.261, pp. 209-225. https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2023-0186 (blind peer reviewed) (rivista fascia A per il settore concorsuale 10/N3).

10.           Bogushevskaya, V. (2026) “To please the palate and provoke the intellect: Precedent references and visual-associative cues encoded in Chinese restaurant dish names”. Diversity and Liberty in East Asia: Cultural Negotiations and Political Expressions. Tokyo: Waseda University Press.