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This study explores the difficulties of untranslatability within science fiction narratives, with a particular emphasis on linguistic limitations (such as neologisms, specialised terminology, and syntactic complexity), cultural limitations (including historical references, mythological allusions, and region-specific metaphors), and ideological limitations (encompassing censorship, political discourse, and philosophical viewpoints). Grounded in the cultural turn of translation studies, the research investigates how science fiction reflects socio-political ideologies and presents distinct challenges for translators, especially when dealing with texts originating from non-Western cultures. The Chinese science fiction novel The Three-Body Problem is chosen as the focal case study owing to its worldwide importance and intricate ideological content. The research seeks to examine how translators negotiate ideological and linguistic obstacles, evaluate the strategies employed to address sensitive material, and consider the impact of translators’ own ideological positions on the resulting translations. A qualitative methodology was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with eleven professional translators, literary scholars, and editors. The data were subjected to thematic analysis to extract significant themes and common translation strategies. The findings reveal that translators utilise adaptation by modifying culturally specific terms to suit the target audience’s understanding, omission by removing politically sensitive or untranslatable content to avoid misinterpretation, and creative reinterpretation by reformulating complex scientific or ideological ideas to maintain narrative coherence. These approaches uphold cultural accuracy and readability while addressing ideological constraints. Furthermore, the translators’ ideological perspectives markedly affect their translation decisions. This research offers fresh perspectives on the ideological dimensions of literary translation, highlighting the translator’s crucial role in mediating cultural narratives within the global science fiction community.