Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific

Research- University of Baghdad- Ibn Rushd

College for Human Sciences- English
Department

Thematization

Submitted by: Mustafa Taha Odeh

Syntax

Supervised by: Prof. Manal Jassem Mohammed (PhD)

20 Dec 2023
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Abstract

The process of arranging theme and rheme patterns in a text is referred to as thematization.
The current study aims to examine and investigate thematization processes (marked,
unmarked themes) in selected quotations from the novel entitled, “Cry, the beloved
country,” written by the South African author Alan Paron. This literary work is selected
among other three novels, but the novel at hand has the most occurrences of the four types
of thematization. Moreover, this paper also aims to find the social problems of racism,
ethnicity, and inequality among the Black and the White people in South Africa by using
Brown and Miller’s (1980) model of thematization process: Subject selection rules,
promotion selection rules, left movement rules, and cleft sentences. In this regard, the
ruling power is the white people who do not pay fair wages for the black people in order
to get the highest profits from a wide range of mines. The data is analyzed by adopting
qualitative and quantitative research methods to reach the best results of validity and
workability of data collection. The data, that is concurrent with the model of analysis, are
chosen to answer the following questions:

1. What is the most common process of thematization used by the author to highlight
the importance of the novel’s themes ?
2. Why do theme and rheme share the fields of syntax and discourse ?
3. How many types of thematization processes are adopted to fit with the data ?
4. To what extent do topic and comment apply to theme and rheme ?

Generally speaking, in all types of texts, thematization is often the most common type of
marked theme structure. Thematic structure is therefore a very helpful and essential
writing instrument. Authors ought to be sufficiently knowledgeable about identified
theme structures in order to create and analyze written works.
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Keywords: Syntax, thematization, topic and comment, theme and rheme, novel,
qualitative, quantitative, racism

1. Introduction

A message's organization and ability to be clearly expressed and understood is

significantly enhanced by its theme or rheme (Halliday, 1994). Because it will serve as
the initial textual framework for everything that follows, the choice of what to say initially
will affect how the hearer/reader interprets everything that is said later in the discourse
(Alonso, Belmonte, & McCabe, 1998). Theme and rheme analysis is an area that has
attracted the attention of some translation scholars. The basic premise is that sentences
consist of themes, which present known, context-dependent information, and rhemes,
which present new, context-independent information. Because they represent new
information, it is rhemes rather than themes which push text development forward.

Textual analysis includes thematization as one of its subdivisions. The study of a text's
characteristics or texture is known as textual analysis. The theme that the writer choose
for the clause is known as a thematization strategy. According to Jallilifar's (2010) theme
research, there were general parallels between the two journals' various subject kinds and
thematic growth patterns. However, there were notable variations in the introduction's use
of several themes of thematic progression, both in terms of quantity and context.

This study aims at finding thematization process by using Brown and Miller’s model
(1980), in Alan Paton’s novel, “Cry, the beloved country.” Furthermore, four quotations
are carefully selected from different chapters of the novels to be compatible with the
research questions, data collection, and the analysis of the data to find racial, ethnic and
inequality problems in South Africa during the white administration. Subject selection
rules, promotion selection rules, left movement rules, and clefting sentences are the four
types of thematization processes in which the present paper uses as adopting tools.
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2. Literature Review

2.1 Syntax: A Brief Introduction

Perhaps one of the truly amazing aspects of the study of Language is not the origins of
the word demerit, or how to properly punctuate a quote inside parentheses, or how kids
have, like, destroyed the English language, eh? Instead, it’s the question of how we
subconsciously get from sounds and words to meaning. This is the study of syntax. The
dominant theory of syntax is due to Noam Chomsky and his colleagues, starting in the
mid-1950s and continuing to this day. This theory, which has had many different names
through its development (Transformational Grammar (TG), Transformational Generative
Grammar, Standard Theory, Extended Standard Theory, Government and Binding Theory
(GB), Principles and Parameters approach (P&P) and Minimalism (MP)), is often given
the blanket name Generative Grammar. A number of alternate theories of syntax have also
branched off of this research program. These include Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG)
and Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG). These are also considered part of
generative grammar, (Carnie, A., 2021, p.6).

The underlying thesis of generative grammar is that sentences are generated by a

subconscious set of procedures (like computer programs). These procedures are part of
our minds (or of our cognitive abilities if you prefer). The goal of syntactic theory is to
model these procedures. In other words, we are trying to figure out what we
subconsciously know about the syntax of our language. In generative grammar, the means
for modeling these procedures is through a set of formal grammatical rules. Note that
these rules are nothing like the rules of grammar you might have learned in school. These
rules don’t tell you how to properly punctuate a sentence or not to split an infinitive.
Instead, they tell you the order in which to put your words. In English, for example, we
put the subject of a sentence before its verb. This is the kind of information encoded in
generative rules. These rules are thought to generate the sentences of a language, hence
 4
the name generative grammar. You can think of these rules as being like the command
lines in a computer program. They tell you step by step how to put together words into a
sentence.

In syntax, hypotheses are called rules, and the group of hypotheses that describe a
language’s syntax is called a grammar. The term grammar can strike terror into the hearts
of people. But you should note that there are two ways to go about writing grammatical
rules. One is to tell people how they should speak (this is of course the domain of English
teachers and copy-editors); we call these kinds of rules prescriptive rules (as they
prescribe how people should speak according to some standard). Some examples of
prescriptive rules include “never end a sentence with a preposition”, “use whom not who”
and “don’t split infinitives”. These rules tell us how we are supposed to use our language.
The other approach is to write rules that describe how people actually speak, whether or
not they are speaking “correctly”. These are called descriptive rules, (Tallerman, 1998).

2.2 Theme

A term used in linguistics as part of an analysis of the structure of sentences (their thematic
structure): it refers, not to the subject-matter of a sentence (its everyday meaning), but to
the way speakers identify the relative importance of their subject-matter, and is defined
as the first major constituent of a sentence. There is no necessary correspondence with a
functional grammatical element (though in English theme and subject often coincide), for
instance:

-The man is going.

- His hair I can’t stand.

-Smith her name was, Under no condition will he . . .

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The process of moving an element to the front of the sentence in this way (‘fronting’), to
act as theme, is known as thematization (sometimes topicalization) or thematic fronting.
Some linguists systematically distinguish this notion from other ways of analyzing the
organization of the sentence structure of messages, such as the topic/ comment distinction,
or an analysis in terms of information structure, (Crystall, 2008).

2.2.1 Theme and Rheme

Crystal (2008, p.483)) states that:

“In the Prague School approach to linguistics, theme is opposed to rheme,

producing a distinction similar to that of topic/comment, but interpreted with
reference to the theoretical framework of functional sentence perspective”.

In this theory, the theme is defined as the part of a sentence which adds least to the
advancing process of communication (it has the lowest degree of communicative
dynamism); in other words, it expresses relatively little (or no) extra meaning, in addition
to what has already been communicated. The rheme, by contrast, carries the highest
degree of communicative dynamism. Various transitional expressions, neither ‘thematic’
nor ‘rhematic’, are also recognized. For example, the book is on the table; The thematic
fronting, the first constituent, or the noun phrase “the book” refers to thematization (n.)
or theme because it stands for the person or the thing which is being said something about.
However, the predicate or the rest of the sentence refers to rheme since it has the highest
communicative meaning or the message, namely; “is on the table.”

According to Halliday and Matthiessen (2004), the textual meta-function, as indicated by

the name, has to do with pieces of text. We are then looking at how texts are organized,
i.e. the combination of clauses and sentences. There are several things to bear in mind
when doing discourse analysis from a Hallidayan point of view: focus, given versus new
information, theme versus rheme, cohesion, and coherence. Thompson (1996, p.222)
 6
emphasizes that “SFG is particularly applicable to stylistics (analysis of discourse).
However, as he points out, discourse analysis is only one way of applying SFG”.

Furthermore, as far as discourse analysis is concerned, theme and rheme are two elements
that contribute to the texture of a text. Paltridge(2012) maintains that a clause's theme is
its introduction; it expresses what the clause is "about." The rheme is the remaining
portion of the clause. Thus, "Hiragana" is the theme in the statement "Hiragana represents
the 46 basic sounds of the Japanese language." The rheme, or what the sentence has to
say, is what the remainder of the sentence says. Concerning Hiragana, here, the theme is
"Hiragana," which is current. Thematic devices in writing include conjunctions, but that
appear at the start of a clause. Something that conveys an opinion about the clause's
substance, like an interpersonal topic, of course. Halliday (1985, p.38) emphasizes that:

“Theme is the element which serves as the point of departure of the message.”

Table (1) clearly illustrates the idea and meaning of thematization, and as follows:

Theme Rheme
Genre is a term in widespread use to indicate an approach
to communication which emphasizes social function
and purpose.

It also introduces ‘information prominence’ into the clause. For example, in the sentence
in Table 6.2 from A Dictionary of Sociolinguistics (Swann et al, 2004, p.123), ‘genre’ is
the theme of the clause and the rest of the sentence is its rheme . The rheme is what the
clause has to say about the theme – what it has to say about genre. The theme in this
sentence is a topical theme , in contrast with a structural element such as a conjunction
(such as ‘and’ or ‘but’), which is a textual theme.
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A text has a sense of thematic development when its rheme and topic patterns come
together. For instance, a clause's topic may reiterate or take up the meaning of a previous
theme. This results in a theme reiteration pattern where the theme appears in every clause.
The rheme of one clause is taken up in the subject of the following phrase in a zigzag or
linear theme. It is also possible to mix these patterns to create split or multiple rheme
patterns, (Paltridge, 2012).

2.2.2 Thematic Roles

Most of the time, noun phrases (NPs) serve as verbs' arguments. NP arguments can be
categorized according to the syntactic function they serve in a sentence as well as the
semantic role they play. The term thematic roles can also be known as semantic roles or
theta-roles. What semantic roles its arguments must play is determined by the verb.
Namely:

Lee handed the letter to Kim

Agent (Theme) Recipient

As has been noted in the examples, The number of arguments a verb accepts and the
semantic function these arguments serve are unrelated. An animated entity that
consciously performs an activity is called an agent. Themes and patients are rather similar,
and not all linguists distinguish between these roles. A theme typically moves from one
location or one person to another, like the letter, recipient to be an animate entity, though
not necessarily human; in Kim gave the toy to her dog, her dog is a recipient. A rather
similar semantic role is goal, as in We sailed to the island. Both goals and recipients are
introduced by to in English, but a goal clearly does not benefit from the verb’s action,
(Tallerman, 1998).

Additionally, thematization is stating the topic that is called the constituent in the sentence
structure. In a nutshell, Semantic roles are NP arguments of a head, especially a head verb,
 8
take on roles like agent, theme or patient, goal, and experiencer. The verb's lexical
characteristics dictate certain semantic responsibilities. Consider the following examples
from Tallerman (1998, p.46):

-Spiders frighten Lill.

Stimulus

-The flowers wilted.

Patient

-The ball broke the window.

(Instrument) Patient

2.2.3 The Distinction Among Thematic, Grammatical, and Logical Subjects

The 'grammatical' subject (characterized by grammatical considerations, such as being

the controller of number agreement), the 'logical' subject (characterized by syntactic-
semantic considerations - in sentences with a [agent] NP, this is usually held to be the
logical subject), and the 'thematic' or 'psychological' subject (characterized by textual
considerations - 'this is what the sentence is about').

‘Theme’, ‘rheme’ and ‘end focus’ refer to structural positions within the sentence. The
two focal points in English sentences are the beginning and the end; the language has a
number of processes that position a constituent either initially or finally. The constituent
that' occurs in initial position is the theme, and processes used to make some constituent
initial are processes of thematization, (Brown & Miller, 1998).

1. Someone parked a large furniture van right outside our front door last night.
2. A large furniture van was parked right outside our front door last night.
3. Right outside our front door someone parked a large furniture van last night.
4. Last night someone parked a large furniture van right outside our front door.
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The propositional structure of each of these sentences is identical: they differ in terms
of which constituent is thematized. Constituents other than the theme are the rheme.
Obviously, the word order in 1 is typically regarded as the "most neutral" or
"unmarked" word order in a group of sentences such as 1-4; it is an active declarative
sentence with place and time adverbs at the end position. Some element must be
sentencing start. We refer to such statements as "thematically unmarked." The
remaining sentences are all thematically marked in one way or another, with some
involving what would seem to be a higher degree of markedness than others – such as
in sentence number three.

However, just as there are thematizing processes which produce marked themes, so
too there are end-focusing processes that produce marked end-focus. For instance:

5. Someone parked a large furniture van last night right outside our front door.
6. It was parked right outside our front door last night, a large furniture van.
7. Parked right outside our front door last night it was, a large furniture van.
8. A large furniture van, right outside our front door last night, parked.

According to Quirk et al (1992), the term end-focus is derived from the fact that, in
spoken language, the unmarked position for the intonation center in an English
sentence is the last lexical item in that sentence. Thus, the theme is the last constituent.
If the intonation contour falls on any other constituent, as:

The theme is the last constituent.

The THEME is the last constituent.

Then, the sentence is taken to be in some sense marked - the effect is often emphatic
or contrastive. “The term end-focus is used to refer to the final relevant sentence
constituent.” (Brown & Miller, 1980, p.385)
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Some of these end-focuses are clearly more marked than others as the reader can
confirm by reading them aloud -they involve a successively more indignant intonation
pattern! Considerations that govern which constituent is to be chosen as theme and
which as end-focus are related to communicative processes within text. The terms
given and new can only be understood in terms of text. In their most straightforward
sense, these terms can be understood as information that has literally been ‘given’ in
the preceding text and information that is ‘new’ to the sentence immediately under
consideration. A number of linguistic features correlate with this. New information is
characteristically spelled out in full - otherwise there is no way for the hearer or reader
to get access to it. Given information is typically either assumed and not referred to at
all, or is referred to by the use of preforms or other cross-reference expressions. For
example,

9. I must tell you the news about John and Mary.

10. They have just got married.

Sentence 9 introduces the new information that there is some ‘news’ about ‘John and
Mary’. When we come to 10 this can be treated as given: hence they cross-refer to
John and Mary, and no mention is made of ‘news’, but a piece of new information is
added - that the ‘news’ is that ‘John and Mary have got married’. However, it would
be unnatural if the letter read:

11. I must tell you the news about John and Mary.
12. The news I have to tell you is that John and Mary have got married.

where all the given information is spelled out in the second sentence. In a long text such
a process eventually becomes impossible, since new information is constantly being
added. The importance of the notions of given and new to a study of word order lies in
the fact that what is given is very frequently the constituent that is thematized.
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2.3 Topic and Comment

The following is a representation of the concepts of topic and comment. When we refer
to a topic, we indicate the "perspective" or "about" that a sentence is seen from. Topic
appears to be in line with the definition of "psychological subject" given by others. The
comment then says something on this subject. When sentences stand alone, for instance:

-John patted the dog on the head

as being a sentence, which takes John as its topic and tells us something about what ‘John’
did. Yet, the sentence:

-The dog was patted on the head by John.

This sentence seems to focus attention on ‘the dog’, and tells us something that happened
to it. Frequently topic and theme coincide, as they do the previous sentences. Frequently,
too, topic, theme and given coincide. So, in They have got married, for example, they are
topic and theme and cross-refers to John and Mary in the previous sentence. Theme and
topic should not be coincided, for example:

-There has been a lot of bullying in the school this term.

-The one who is always being picked on is Tom Brown.

Tom Brown is the topic, yet is an end focus. The effect of putting Tom Brown in end-
focus is precisely to delay identification of the topic, thus creating a particular
communicative effect. Thematizing processes do not in general appear to affect what we
may refer to as ‘propositional meaning’ - the underlying propositional roles of the various
constituents: though even this statement needs some qualification since, as we have seen,
subject and object forming processes are often significant.
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In one area thematization has a particular effect. This involves sentences where one or
more of the NPs involved contains a quantifying expression (like every, few, many or a
numeral) or the sentence contains a negative element. So, for example, the sentence:

-Everyone in this room speaks two languages can be understood as asserting either that
‘everyone’ speaks the same two languages (e.g., French and German); or that everyone
speaks two languages, but they may be different for each individual (say French and
German, Chinese and Hindi, and so on). The latter is the more usual interpretation: the
sentence is understood as a comment on the linguistic ability of ‘everyone in the room’,
which is the topic. The ‘focusing’ effect of thematization is very noticeable in sentences
like these, but it varies from case to case.

2.4 Thematization and End-Focus

The terms: theme, rheme, and end-focus are formal terms occupy structural positions
within the sentence. The sentence begins with the initial, or thematic, constituent, and
ends with the final, or end-focus, constituent. For example:

- Ice cream, that’s the pudding I like best in the world. In this sentence, the speaker
introduces the topic of his statement and then makes a comment on it. In contrast: The
pudding that I like best in the world is ice cream. The speaker keeps his hearer in
suspense as to what he likes until the very end.

2.4.1 Processes of Thematization

Brown and Miller (1998) note that there are four thematization processes:

1. ‘subject selection rules.’ In these circumstances, any propositional role inside a

particular propositional structure can be chosen as the grammatical subject while the
sentence remains an active declarative sentence. Namely:

- Blood flowed in the gutters.

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- The gutters flowed with blood.

2. ‘Promotion to subject rules’ these are cases where a particular propositional role, which
in an active declarative sentence would not be grammatical subject, is promoted to subject
with some consequent alteration in the verb group (as is the case with the passive) or by
the introduction of a pro-verb (like HAVE).

- The managing director sacked the strikers.

- The strikers were dismissed by the managing director.

- My auntie knitted a pair of gloves for me.

- I had a pair of gloves knitted for me by my auntie.

The last sentence is to be understood as having the same general sense as the one directly
before it, rather than in the causative sense ‘I got my auntie to knit me a pair of gloves’.

3. ‘Left movement rules’ these involve the thematization of a particular constituent without
any consequent change of grammatical function: Thus, the subject function of “I” and the
object function of “Christmas” do not alter in:

- I hate Christmas.

-Christmas, I hate it.

4. ‘Clefting rules’ these involve the distribution of the constituents of some proposition
into a copular sentence, such as:

-I am very fond of Julia.

-It’s Julia who I’m very fond of.

-Julia is what I’m very fond of.

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As a result, thematization procedures themselves may add meaning emphases or influence
the reader to one reading over another.

Halliday (1994) who is the main representative of the positional approach to the definition
of theme characterizes thematization in English as the process of shifting various sentence
elements to the initial position plus any grammatical changes within a sentence, which
are caused by such a movement. According to Fries (1983) different discourse genres (i.e.,
narratives, descriptives, argumentative, and so on) have different patterns of thematic
progression. For example, an argumentative text can be characterized by high proportion
of cross-reference from the rheme of one sentence to the theme of the text.

2.5 Markedness

Markedness in linguistics refers to the way words are changed or added to give a certain
meaning. The unmarked option is simply the default meaning. According to Gosden
(1996), manipulating Unmarked and Marked thematic choices is a method of achieving
textual cohesion and coherence. Marked theme is a cover term that includes various
categories such as Topicalization, Left-dislocation, Cleft, and Pseudo-cleft phrases.
Grzegorek (1984) defines a theme structure as communicatively marked when it does not
follow the succession of old to new material. An unmarked theme clearly shows a
grammatical topic as the point of departure, whereas a marked theme adopts a strategy
that fronts other information. The highlighted subject makes use of three major contexts.

According to Halliday (1985), theme plays an essential role in the way discourse is
organized. Theme is known and context-dependent information while rheme is new and
context independent information. Halliday and Matthiessen (2004, p. 65) believe that "As
a message structure, therefore, a clause consists of theme accompanied by a rheme; and
the structure is expressed by the order- whatever is chosen as the theme is put first". Alice
Davidson (1980) suggests the more marked the construction, the more likely that an
 15
implicated meaning will be that which the utterance is intended to convey (as Cited in
Brown & Yule, 1983).

Based on Bell (1991) view, marked theme in English is signaled by predicting, proposing,
clefting, or fronting of the theme and combinations of these options. It is the theme where
the writer consciously or unconsciously affects the organization of the text by choosing
something other than the subject for the starting point of their message. Fries (1983) claim
that marked themes are more truly thematic than non-marked themes. If 'theme' is
everything located at the beginning of the sentence, as a result of choice, then markedness
of theme or use of special resource to put complements, objects and verbs in initial
position betrays a deliberate choice.

3. Methodology

Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to analyze the selected data
which are carefully chosen to be compatible with the research questions and the model of
analysis. ''Qualitative strategies'' are frequently used as an umbrella term for a variety of
procedures and techniques that cannot be '"quantified." Furthermore, qualitative research
tends to be explicitly interpretive and more suited for certain tasks such as establishing
meanings, clarifying concepts, and proposing hypotheses, (Yang & Miller, 2008). On the
other hand, “quantitative method is considered as a research approach that draws on
numerical data. Variables are clearly defined measurement is standardized and data
generally analyzed using statistical methods,” (Paltridge, 2012, p.244).

3.1 Data Collection

The data of the present research aims to analyze the literary work entitled, “Cry, the
Beloved Country” in order to examine thematization processes. The data is a literary
novel written by the South African Writer; Alan Paton in 1948. The novel considers Africa
as a mother weeping for her killed son while also demanding a stop to the crimes against
 16
her people. “Cry” captures the grieving mother's pain as well as her wrath. Despite the
fact that apartheid, South Africa's infamous system of enforced racial segregation, did not
take place until after the novel's publication, the South Africa of “Cry, the Beloved
Country” was still suffering from the repercussions of racial segregation, enforced
inequality, and prejudice. The crime rate was high, and black agitators' attacks on whites
generated terror among the country's white citizens. As traditional tribal traditions gave
way to the pull of the cities, many black South Africans found themselves adrift, with no
moral or social organization to turn to. Whites had a monopoly on political power, and
they did nothing to ameliorate terrible poverty among black South Africans, which led to
a rise in crime among many young black men.

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/cry/context/

3.2 Model of Analysis

Brown and Miller’s (1980) model of thematization processes is utilized to analyze the
current data which is “Cry, the beloved country.” The analysis will be done by selecting
the most suitable quotations which include thematization. The four stages of the model
will be scrutinized to reach the best syntactic structures of the research project; “subject
selection rules, promotion to subject rules, left movement rules, and lastly cleft
sentences.”

4. Analysis of the Data

NO. Quotation Thematization Analysis

Processes
1. “John Kumalo” is leading a Subject selection John's political
protest in Johannesburg. His rules since John is views are not
voice electrifies the crowd, makes unmarked theme improper. And it
the policemen uneasy. The protest that represents the may appear that he
 17

is about the recently person being talked has grown "corrupt"

discovered gold. John tells the about. in some sense at this
crowd that they, black men, are The policeman is a point.
just asking for their share of the promotion selection
gold, to be paid a fair wage for rules.
their labor.” Gold is also a
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/cry- promotion selection
the-beloved-country/book-i- rules because no
chapter-26 new information
have been given.
2. When they are done James is a subject James's son was,
talking, James goes to bed. selection rules and still is, a bit of a
Upstairs, Margaret is awake. because John is the mystery to him,
James recounts her with Mr. main clause, but the much like Stephen.
Harrison’s stories about Arthur. subordinate clause
He seems pained by the fact that beginning with
he knew so little about his son, but “when” is needless.
glad that he was a good man. Harrison is a cleft
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/cry- sentence while
the-beloved-country/book-i- Arthur is a
chapter-19 promotion selection
rules.
3. The woman decides to move to the In this quote, the When she has no
shantytown. It goes up overnight, woman is selection other option, a
and since there is no rent, it fills rules since the word woman goes to the
with people. One of the woman’s “woman” is an shantytown. Her
 18

children is sick. As she gets sicker unmarked theme. child gets sick, cold
and sicker, her mother sings to her, “It” refers to cleft and damp. She tells
reminisces of the natural beauty of sentence. the child stories
the land, where they came from, The land is a left about their
turning into cries of fear. The child movement rules wonderful country
is dying. A man assures the mother begins the structure in an attempt to
that the doctor will come in the of the sentence soothe him. The
morning. Outside, people sing remains declarative people are singing
“God Save Africa.” in spite of shifting "God Save Africa,"
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/cry- the topic to the end yet considering the
the-beloved-country/book-i- of the sentence. circumstances
chapter-9 being harsh.
4. They arrive at Gertrude’s Gertrude is a left Stephen feels his
house. Mesimangu movement rules. sister's life has
tells Stephen that he’ll be visiting Mesimangu is a practically
a parishioner next door, and to subject selection disappeared from
come find him when he is ready. rules. Finally, her body as he
Before he even knocks, Stephen Stephen is also a shakes her hand; her
can hear “bad” laughter on the subject selection being cut off from
other side of the door. Then he rules. the vitality of her
knocks, and she answers. She house has left her
looks afraid. She turns around and wary, frigid, and
says something unintelligible to terrified.
someone that Stephen cannot see.
There is a flurry of activity in the
house, and then silence. Only then
 19

does she invite him inside. She

shakes his hand, and it is limp and
icy.
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/cry-
the-beloved-country/book-i-
chapter-6

5. Discussion of the results

The following table shows the frequencies and percentages of the four processes of
thematization, making them clear which type has the most rates of racism, inequality, and
segregation. Importantly, this section aims at answering the research questions posed in
the abstract.

NO. Thematization Processes Frequency Percentage

1. Subject selection rules 5 40
2. Promotion selection rules 3 30
3. Left movement rules 2 15
4. Clefting rules 2 15
Total: 100

To begin with, subject selection rules are the highest occurrence with (40%), signifying
the view that theme or topic is the most frequent subject in the chosen data, person or a
thing that being said or talked about. This percentage shows that the writer uses selection
rules by putting the topics at the beginning of the sentences. Next, Promotion rules are
percentage with (30%), demonstrating that passive sentences are less in comparison with
 20
selection rules, so that the sentences remain active and declarative. Then, Left movement
rules occur with (15%) to refer to not occurring of any change in the grammatical function
of thematization, such as “I” or “we” as themes. Finally, clefing rules that shows sentences
or structures which start with “it” do not used too much to emphasize on the characters of
the novel as story tellers.

6.Conclusion

Thematization is the process of arranging theme and rheme patterns in a text. The current
study intends to explore and investigate thematization processes (marked and unmarked
themes) in chosen lines from the novel "Cry, the beloved country," authored by South
African author Alan Paron. This literary work was chosen from among three others, but
it contains the most instances of the four categories of thematization. Furthermore, using
Brown and Miller's (1980) model of thematization process: subject selection rules,
promotion selection rules, left movement rules, and cleft sentences, this paper aims to
find the social problems of racism, ethnicity, and inequality among Black and White
people in South Africa.

A message's theme or rheme increases its organization and ability to be effectively

presented and understood (Halliday, 1994). What is said first will influence how the
hearer/reader interprets everything discussed later in the discourse since it will serve as
the initial textual foundation for everything that follows (Alonso, Belmonte, & McCabe,
1998). Theme and rheme analysis has piqued the curiosity of certain translation experts.
The core concept is that sentences are composed of themes, which present previously
known, context-dependent information, and rhemes, which present previously unknown,
context-independent information. Rhemes, not themes, promote text expansion because
they reflect fresh knowledge.
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