Thematicity and the Act of Translation in Practice

Abstract

The way something is said has as much weight in a discoursal view of language as what is said, and variations in the ways of saying are all discoursally motivated (Lotfipour-Saedi, 1992). Included among these variations are the thematization strategies or the decisions on what to place in the thematic position of every theme-rheme unit in the text. The present paper investigates thematic arrangements across Persian and English languages with respect to the thematic elements in the hierarchical organization of a text that contribute to its development. The main issue at stake is to trace how Persian thematic elements are conveyed to English in the process of translation. In doing so, I have come up with the conclusion that most of the SL themes under study can be remained intact in the TL in such a way that it can be a leading hint in translation studies.