Translating Theme Choices in Tourism Promotion Texts

Abstract

This study investigates how the Theme–Rheme system is translated from Indonesian into English with Halliday’s Perspective and the shifting of Theme in the Target Text (TT) in tourism information. The theme of the information should be delivered adequately to persuade and convince readers about the tourism destination being promoted. This study used descriptive qualitative methods to determine the categories of the Theme and its translation. The finding shows that the types of Theme are mostly Topical Theme, either Unmarked or Marked. Theme shifting also occurs from Theme structure into Rheme structure. Besides, the shift affects different readers' perceptions of the destination being promoted in the texts, which is indicated by different fronted Theme. This is due to the change of starting point of information in the Source Text (ST) and in the Target Text (TT). Therefore, translating Theme in tourism promotion could result in a shift of main information.