Abstract
Since the 1990s, discourse analysis has been applied to translation studies, and studies with this approach have become quite prominent. As one resource of discourse analysis, the SFL (Systemic Functional Linguistics) model can be applied to analyze both the original text and the translated text. Following this approach, both texts are compared at the sociological, semiotic, generic, registerial, discoursal, and lexicogrammatical levels by adopting a top-down process. The applicability of Halliday’s linguistic framework has then been widely recognized within the field of translation studies. Meanwhile, different strata of Systemic Functional Grammar have shed light on a number of studies. In this paper, I have restricted the topic to one aspect only, i.e. the textual metafunction. I have first traced the development of SFL and its integration with translation studies. Some basic terms in SFL and Theme/Rheme analysis are also explained. Then, some of the existing studies involving thematic analysis and translation are reviewed. As advocated by several scholars, what we need is a more objective apparatus for descriptive translation studies. It would be beneficial to link SFL and descriptive translation studies together, as SFL serves as a tool that relates linguistic choices to the sociocultural context systematically.
Highlights
The past fifty years have witnessed the rapid development of Systemic Functional Grammar (Halliday, 1961, 1985, 1994; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004)
I have chosen several papers from Thematic Development in English Texts edited by Mohsen Ghadessy (1995b) as well as other studies on different genres to answer the following two questions: (i) How Theme-Rheme can be used in discourse analysis? (ii) What are likely to be discovered by the analysis?
I would review some of the existing studies involving thematic analysis from the following three aspects: (i) whether the thematic structures in original and translated texts are preserved or not, (ii) theme selection as choice on the textual level, (iii) some frameworks that aim at answering the “meta-question” over the applicability of systemic functional linguistics to this area of translation studies
Summary
The past fifty years have witnessed the rapid development of Systemic Functional Grammar (Halliday, 1961, 1985, 1994; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004). The grammar of language is interpreted as a system which helps people to interact with each other and to make sense of their world experiences (Martin, Matthiessen, & Painter, 2010) Systemic functional linguists, such as Halliday (2009), take the concept of translation as a relation between languages as well as a process of moving from one language into another. Baker (1992) as well as Hatim and Mason (1990, 1997) adopt several concepts from SFL, such as genre, register, cohesion, and coherence to their studies on the textuality of translation In this way, equivalence has been examined on lexical, grammatical, textual and pragmatic levels. I would give some suggestions for future studies
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