Rhetorical Structure Theory: looking back and moving ahead

TLDR

Rhetorical Structure Theory has attracted continuous attention since its origins in the 1980s and has been applied, compared to other approaches, and criticized across discourse analysis, theoretical linguistics, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics. The authors review discussions of Rhetorical Structure Theory, focusing on the reliability of analyses, psychological validity, and the nature of text relations. The study proposes areas for further research and notes that a forthcoming follow‑up article will explore applications of the theory in various fields.

Abstract

Rhetorical Structure Theory has enjoyed continuous attention since its origins in the 1980s. It has been applied, compared to other approaches, and also criticized in a number of areas in discourse analysis, theoretical linguistics, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics. In this article, we review some of the discussions about the theory itself, especially addressing issues of the reliability of analyses and psychological validity, together with a discussion of the nature of text relations. We also propose areas for further research. A follow-up article (Taboada and Mann, forthcoming) will discuss applications of the theory in various fields.