Translating The English Relative Clauses Based On Their Rhetorical Functions

This is a thesis based on Chapter 7 and 8 of Language and Symbolic Power, one of the most significant academic book, by Pierre Bourdieu, a renowned French sociologist.This thesis analyzes the different rhetorical functions between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses, adopting the approach of the functional translation theory. With some typical examples of the translation, the author intends to explain reliable methods for translating two kinds of relative clauses. If the function of restrictive relative clauses is that of definition, it is supposed to be translated into a pre-attribute, set before the antecedent. Or it can be translated into a modifier-noun phrase, set after the antecedent. If the function of restrictive relative clauses is that of description, it should be translated according to the logical relationship between the main clause and the relative clause. The non-restrictive relative clause has one function of description and should be translated into a clause.After the analysis of the approaches to translating restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses with different rhetorical functions, the translator has gained the sufficient understanding of relative clauses, which sharpens the skills at translating them.