Misrepresenting The General Thematic Pattern Of A Text

Martin, Matthiessen & Painter (2010: 278):

The general pattern, as we can see, is for marked Themes to punctuate the text at intervals, shifting our gaze, and for unmarked Themes to sustain our orientation to the field in between.

 

Blogger Comments:

To be clear, this assessment is based on a misapplication of Theme to a single text. Compare the following SFL-consistent analysis:

To be clear, the marked Themes are:

• With a roar like a Bondi tram running amok
• In no more than 20 seconds
• In their long and glorious history
• As one
• On the shore

and the unmarked Themes are:

• it (an enormous wave)
• three huge waves
• the boiling surf
• yet more large waves
• some (Bondi boys)
• some (Bondi boys)
• the Bondi clubhouse
• ambulances from all over Sydney town

It can seen that the context for what follows can be switched by either marked or unmarked Themes, and that continuity is maintained by the ellipsis of Subjects that would otherwise have been Themes. Importantly, the authors ignore the role of textual Themes in organising the text.