On the Notion of Contrast in Information Structure and Discourse Structure

The idea of contrast plays an important role in the analysis of information structure and discourse structure. In the literature on information structure, we encounter the concept of contrastive focus and of contrastive topic, and there is also the opinion that focus in general establishes a contrast. In the literature on discourse structure, it is commonly held that there is a discourse relation of contrast which is indicated by, e.g., English but. However, these notions of contrast differ considerably with respect to what is meant by their conception of contrast.