What is theme and rheme?

If you read the following sentences, what would you say is the difference between the two of them?

1. Chris Rock tells a really fun joke.
2. A really fun joke is told by Chris Rock.

The first thing that you will notice is that, one is in active voice and the other one is in passive voice, this does not changes the meaning of the sentences since both are talking about the same thing, however in sentence number 1 the focus is on the agent while in number 2 the focus is on the action. Now, if you look closer, you will also notice that from the beginning of the clause your attention is being drawn to something which is the Theme, and it indicates what is being talked about in the clause. The rest of it is known as the Rheme. Take a look at the examples again:

1. Chris Rock tells a really fun joke.
2. A really fun joke is told by Chris Rock.

As we see, in sentence number 1 the attention is on the comedian Chris Rock, whereas in the second one the attention is on the joke. But, how about if we add one more word to the sentences.

      3. Meanwhile, Chris Rock tells a really fun joke.
      4. Meanwhile, a really fun joke is told by Chris Rock.

Now you can notice that the Theme changed in both cases, regardless of the fact that they are in different voices. In sentences number 3 and 4 the attention is no more on Chris Rock or the joke, is it on the time.

According to Halliday and Matthiessen (2014) the Theme «is the element which serves as the point of departure of the message» (p. 89) and the Rheme is the «remainder of the message, the part in which the Theme is developed» (p. 89), that means that whatever is put first, acquires thematic prominence. Considering this, we can study or identify the writer’s intention by analyzing their use of Theme; this gives us an idea on what the writer wants you to focus in. Let us look at another example from Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis:

1. « When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect. » (Kafka, 1999)
2. (modified) Transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams.

In the original, Kafka wanted us to pay attention to Gregor the human and not in the fact that he had transformed into an insect. This is important since in the novel, the author never explains the reason of his transformation; on the contrary, we see that according to the events Gregor appeared not to deserve his fate. Now, in the modified sentence our attention is drawn to Gregor’s transformation, this changes completely the tone of the message and of course the author’s intention.

With these examples, we can see that Theme is a system that allow us to guide the point of view of the reader into what we want them to focus in, by doing that we create the texture that provides cohesion to the text and that helps us to communicate the message in a more effective way.


References

Halliday, M., & Matthiessen, C. M. (2014). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold, a member of the Hodder Headline Group.

Kafka, F. (1999). The Metamorphosis. Prague: Vitalis.

Miguel Riveros | CI: 20.123.187

Facultad de Humanidades y Educación

Universidad de los Andes

Mérida, VE - Marzo, 2017