Themen

Themen is the plural form of Thema in German, and it denotes topics, subjects, or themes in various contexts. The term is used in linguistics, literary analysis, library science, and media studies to identify what a text or discourse is about, as well as the subjects that organize information or discussion.

In linguistics, Thema (topic) and Rheme (comment) describe an information structure known as Thema-Rhema or Functional Sentence Perspective. The Thema is the part of a sentence that frames what is being talked about, while the Rheme contains the new or asserted information about that topic. The ordering of themes and rhemes influences emphasis and readability in languages such as German, where topicalization and word order can highlight the Themen.

In literature and media studies, The­men refer to central ideas or recurring motifs in a work. An analysis of themes considers how a text explores social, ethical, or existential questions, and how these ideas develop across scenes, chapters, or episodes.

In library science and information organization, The­men are used for indexing and categorization. Themenkataloge or subject headings help classify content by topics, enabling retrieval across databases, catalogs, and digital repositories. Topic modeling, a computational approach, also uses the notion of Themen to identify underlying subject groups within large corpora.

See also Thema, Rheme, discourse analysis, topic modeling, and subject indexing.