When An Abstract Is A Summary And A Summary Is An Introduction

Martin (1992: 458):

The consideration of macro-Theme and macro-New in Matthiessen and Halliday's paper points to the difference between what are often referred to as an abstract and a summary. A[n] abstract is essentially a dislocated macro-New (typically "Theme marked" at a text's beginning or published elsewhere); it presents the essence of what can be learned by reading the text the abstract functions as macro-New for.  A summary on the other hand is more like a dislocated macro-Theme (often "Rhematic" at the end of a text or published elsewhere); it provides an outline of what can or has been read, re-scaffolding by way of review.

Blogger Comments:

[1] On this model, the difference between an abstract and a summary is that an abstract is a summary and a summary is an introductory paragraph; see the next two points, below.

[2] Glossing the term macro-New as 'text summary' (p454), this becomes:

A[n] abstract is essentially a dislocated text summary; it presents the essence of what can be learned by reading the text the abstract functions as text summary for.

[3] Glossing the term macro-Theme as 'introductory paragraph' (p437), this becomes:

A summary on the other hand is more like a dislocated introductory paragraph; it provides an outline of what can or has been read, re-scaffolding by way of review.

[4] An abstract or summary that is published elsewhere, rather than as part of the text in question, though related (intertextually), is not part of the logogenesis of the actual text it abstracts or summarises, and so does not function as its macro-New or macro-Theme.