Application of Textual Function of Functional Grammar: A Case Study of Discourse Based on the Actor’s Lines of the Film Zootopia

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　　 Abstract：This article aims to display the effect of thematic choose to discourse organization in real case. Based on the concept of theme and rheme of Halliday’s textual function， actor’s lines from the film Zootopia are elected and analyzed to explore their thematic structure and thematic progression， which gives a hand to daily language use.
　　 Key words：textual function; theme and rheme; thematic progression
　　 中圖分类号：H314         文献标识码：A            文章编号：1672-1578（2019）06-0001-03
　　1   Introduction
　　 Textual function， as one of three metafunctions in Halliday’s functional grammar， provides resources to informational organization. In the meanwhile， it displays relationship between information movement and context of situation in which a speaker is located （Thompson，2000： F19）. Theme and rheme are the significant notion of it by which discourse structure and information movement are analyzed and emerged. At the outset， theme is mixed with given information and object which is talked about. In the continuous discussion， the above notions are distinguished from each other. The sound theme choice to organize thematic progression is conducive to coherence of discourse.
　　2   Basic Introductions to Textual Function
　　2.1 Discussion before Theme and Rheme
　　 The notion of theme is proposed by Mathesius of Prague school in 1939. However， it is already given attention by German- French scholar Henry Weil. He distinguishes syntactic movement and movement of ideas. He deems that syntactic movement and movement of ideas are reflected by noun’s case and word order respectively（Weil，1978：36）. In the movement of ideas， start point which is shared by both sides of speaker and listener， and target which is unknown to listener，are included in a sentence（Weil，1978：29-30）.Thus Henry Weil separates information structure from sentence inner structure. And then， Mathesius accepts Weil’s concept and develops it. He defines “the starting point of the utterance as that which is known or at least obvious in the given situation and from which the speaker proceeds， whereas the core of utterance as what the speaker states about or in regard to， the starting point of the utterance” （Danes，1974：106）.
　　2.2 Development of Definition on Theme
　　 Halliday is under the influence of Prague school and proposes his definition on theme. The theme is what is being talked about， the point of departure for the clause as a message（Halliday，1967：212）. And in his work An Introduction to Functional Grammar of third edition， he modifies the definition on theme. The theme is the element which serves as the point of departure of the message; it is that which locates and orients the clause within its text （Halliday & Matthiessen，2008：64）.In Halliday’s definition，“that which is known or at least obvious in the given situation” as given information in the definition of Prague school is removed， which displays a distinction between theme and given information. The Theme is what I，the speaker，choose to take as my point of departure; the Given is what you， the listener， already know about or have accessible to you（Halliday & Matthiessen，2008：93）.The reason why given information is portion of theme definition of Prague school is that given information and theme are conflated for most of time. The general order of human thinking is a transition from given information to new information. Thus it is normal to choose given information as theme， the starting point， which is unmarked. Whereas， there exists possibility for new information chosen as theme， which reflects speaker’s intention implicitly. 　　 To Halliday’s definition， there is another thing， “what is being talked about”， removed from his initial definition of theme. There exists a distinction between topic and theme although they would be conflated at times， which is named as topical theme. The notion of theme pertains to textual function of which task concentrates on exploration of informational organization. It gives expression to relationship between information. Thus theme is utilized to achieve this goal. However， topic， i.e. “what is being talked about”， is meaning-oriented. It is the concentration of meaning of whole discourse， which deviates from real intention of textual function.
　　3   Case Study
　　 Zootopia is a cartoon film showed in China in. Zootopia refers to a city where mammals coexist in this film. The protagonist Judy， a rabbit as the only police officer of herbivore in the police department， discovers the secret of animal disappearing in the city. In this article， discourse elected from actor’s lines of the film is analyzed based on theme and rheme. The thematic progression is discussed. Every actor’s line is numbered， and corresponding themes are highlighted in bold.
　　3.1 Theme and Rheme in the Discourse
　　 Example
　　 （1） Fear， treachery， blood lust.
　　（2） Thousands of years ago， these were the forces that ruled our world， a world where prey were sacred of predators.
　　（3） And predators had an uncontrollable biological urge to main and maul and death.
　　（4） Back then the world was divided in two：vicious predators and meek prey.
　　（5） But over time， we evolved and moved beyond our primitive savage ways.
　　 （6） Now predator and prey live in harmony.
　　 （7） And every young mammal has multitudinous opportunities.
　　 This discourse is elected from a monologue of stage show in which the Judy in her childhood is the leading actor. Thematic analysis is on the strength of clause or clause complex that line1 is off the table. As showed in bold， it is obvious that this discourse is talked about predator and prey because of their emergence. On the strength of And predators（T3）， Now predator and prey（T6） and And every young mammal（T7）， it is clear that it involves the relationship between predator and prey since predator and prey are expressed separately in T3 and T6， and then combines together in T7 to be expressed by use of mammal， which construes hyponymy between mammal， predator and prey. Fear， treachery， blood lustinline1 are concepts that demonstrate impression of predator， and by which These （the second half of T2）refers to predator implicitly. In the latter part of line4， the relationship is described ulteriorly as a contrast between Vicious predators and meek prey. In T5 there exists a kick point by use of But， which displays transition of the relationship. We in T5 and Every young mammal in T7， as joint reference for both predator and prey， display a possible sound relationship between them. 　　 It is noteworthy that elements with different function are included in theme. This issue is among discussion on theme constituent. After discussion on theme definition， a practical issue comes up. What is the range of “the point of departure of message”？ Below are three linguists’ ideas.
　　Halliday has his own principle.The guiding principle of thematic structure is： the Theme contains one， and only one of these experiential elements. This means that the Theme of a clause ends with the first constituent that is either participant， circumstance or process. We refer to this constituent， in its textual function， as the topical theme（Halliday & Matthiessen，2008： 79）.
　　 However， Martin and Rose extend theme on the basis of Halliday’s opinion that the range of theme ought to extend to and include subject （Martin&Rose， 2003）. Facwett agrees with Martin and Rose that he deems that marked theme， and unmarked theme acted as by subject are available to constitute multiple theme in a clause， which refers to a clause with more than one experiential theme. What’s more， Facwett stands on the opposite of Halliday that multiple theme is not categorized by virtue of three metafunctions in SFG. He claims that the constituent which is put in the beginning of a clasue by reason of voluntary choice， is available to act as theme. Other elements like conjunction and interrogative， which are put in the beginning of sentence for other reason， are not counted as theme （Fawcett，2003）.Among these three linguists’ opinions on the range of theme， it is applicable to go along with Martin’s since his is built on discourse which adopts to this case study.
　　 As highlighted in bold above， all of themes are multiple. T2， T5 and T8 share same theme constituents with two experiential themes. T4 and T9 are unified with a textual theme and subject theme. T7 is somewhat different with a textual theme and two experiential themes. The textual theme in T4， T7 and T9， which is marked， contributes to the coherence of this discourse. Subjects in all sentence act as part of themes， which is unmarked and does not raise barrier to understand.
　　3.2 Thematic Progression
　　 Thematic progression plays a significant role in information formation， which is a realization of textual metafunction.
　　 In general， a clause or clause complex has its own thematic structure. The theme and rheme in a clause is isolated since there is no other clause to be organized as a context. However， it is different in discourse in that there is more than one clause in a discourse. Thus there exist a change and a connection between themes and rhemes of clauses in a discourse， which is named as progression. As themes of clauses in a discourse presented， it is available to express a full meaning. 　　 As discussed above， these in T2 refers to predator explicitly. World in T4 is mentioned in R2. Two in R4 is explained in T6 as predator and prey. We in T5 refers to R4. So is Predator and prey in T8， and Every young mammal in T9. The thematic progression is described as followed：
　　 T2+R2
　　 T4（=T2） +R4
　　 T5（=part of R2） +R5
　　 T7（=part of R5） +R7
　　 T8（=T7=part of R5） +R8
　　 T9（=T8=T7=part of R5）
　　 There are shifts between R2 and T5， R5 and T7， which means a change from new information to given information. And interval of shifts is not large. That keeps a sound flow from given information to new information in line 5 and line 7. T7， T8 and T9 keep uniform. T4 align itself with T2. Repetition is a powerful way to cohesion in discourse （Hu Zhuanglin， 2004： 103）. It is direct and explicit. Such uniform theme choice and shifts between theme and rheme do not place a burden on understanding， which is appropriate for understanding since this discourse is part of lines from a child play. Based on such thematic progression， the whole meaning of discourse is cohesive.
　　4   Conclusion
　　 Theme and rheme are significant notion to textual function which provides a resource for information organization. Sound theme choice contributes to cohesion of discourse meaning. This case study just analyzes thematic structure of discourse and display the effect of thematic choose to discourse organization in real case， which gives a hand to daily language use.
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