2. Introduction

The focus of the present article is on the Theme in the texts found in personal homepages created by Ph.D. students. The system of Theme belongs to the textual metafunction of language and is concerned with the organization of information within individual clauses, and also with the organization of texts (Martin, Matthiessen and Painter (1997, p.21)). Halliday (1994, p.36) defines the Theme as the point of departure of the message of the clause: it is that with which the clause is concerned. By analysing the choice of constituent in Theme position, one can understand the perspective from which the information in the text is presented. Thus the function of the homepage text is reflected in the Theme choices.

To begin with, I briefly describe the CMC (computer-mediated communication) medium and the personal homepage. I then introduce the Theme according to Halliday's SFG-model (Systemic Functional Grammar) and its relation to texture in the homepage texts which are my data for this paper. Finally, I analyse and discuss the status of the Theme in my data and its function in the homepage texts in relation to narratives and identity (or self-presentation).