THEME: THE POINT OF DEPARTURE OF THE MESSAGE
SUMMARY
1 Theme is an element of the thematic structure of a clause; the other element is Rheme. It is therefore a different category from the syntactic Subject and from the discourse category of Topic – what the message is about – although these three often coincide in one wording.
2 It is convenient to think of Topics as organized hierarchically according to their level of operation: a global topic is what the whole text or discourse is about, an episode topic represents what a shorter, but integrated, stretch of talk or writing is about. Local topics are the main referents that persist throughout a stretch of text by means of anaphora, establishing a participant frame or referent chain. They are the topics most clearly related to grammatical categories. English makes use of certain devices to introduce new referents, potential topics, into the discourse and to maintain topic continuity.
3 Theme is identified as the first clause constituent and communicatively is the point of departure of the message. When Theme conflates with Topic and Subject it can be called topical Theme. When Theme is realized by a temporal or spatial Adjunct it is a circumstantial Theme, which sets up a time/space frame within which the participant chain develops. More marked Themes such as fronted Complement and Object have a local textual function, such as initiating a change of direction by means of contrast. Relating Theme to grammar, Theme is unmarked when it coincides with the expected element, such as Subject in a declarative clause. When some other element is brought to initial position it is a marked Theme, and carries some additional significance in the discourse. Objects, Complements and Adjuncts can be thematized/fronted. Whole clauses can be thematized in complex sentences.
4 Other items which tend to be placed at the beginning of the clause may be considered to be part of the Theme. These include connective Adjuncts such as however, stance Adjuncts such as personally, vocatives (Doctor!) and discourse markers such as Well. In this way we can talk of ‘multiple Themes’. They are not, however, topics. A subordinate clause in initial position may be considered as Theme of a clause complex.
Our attention has centered on two kinds of meaning: experiential meaning, which is encoded in the grammar in terms of participants, processes and circumstances, and interpersonal meaning, as encoded by the mood structures. We now turn to a third type of meaning, which helps us to organize and relate individual sentences and utterances within our discourse. This is textual meaning. We will be considering three important dimensions of textual meaning which have a place in English grammar and contribute to discourse coherence: first, the Theme–Rheme textual structure and its relation to Topic; second, the order of constituents in the clause and how the normal order may be altered to achieve different textual effects; and third, the distribution and focus of information, which makes an essential contribution to coherence and understandability in spoken and written English.
