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TITLE:
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ON THE "ABOUTNESS" OF THEME |
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Author: |
Jorge Arús Hita |
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Institution: |
Universidad Complutense de Madrid |
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ABSTRACT |
This paper looks at the standard description of Theme by Michael Halliday within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as "the element which serves as the point of departure of the message;… that with which the clause is concerned" (1985: 38, 1994: 37). The reference in the second part of this description to the concern or the "aboutness" of Theme has been the source of not little disagreement for many years. Revising some of the criticisms that Halliday's conception of Theme has aroused, I then scrutinize the description in the light both of those alternative approaches and the reformulation found in Halliday and Matthiessen (2004). The discussion leads me to claim that the formulation of the original description, with its reference to "aboutness", obscures the intended meaning and is to be held accountable for much of the misunderstanding and, occasionally heated, debate around the notion of Theme.
References: Halliday, Michael A. K. 1994 (1985): An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold Halliday, Michael A. K. and Christian Matthiessen 2004: An Introduction to Functional Grammar. 3rd ed. London: Arnold.
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