The chapter proposes a methodological tool for describing the topic structure of texts and their potential intercultural variation. After positioning topic structures within the field of interculturally varying discourse patterns, the problems inherent in text topic identification and representation are briefly outlined. On the basis of this discussion, the notion of text map and the procedure for establishing text maps is introduced and exemplified with a sample analysis of a passage from the introductory chapters of the English Introduction into Psychology by William James (1890/1975) and the German Grundriss der Psychologie by Wilhelm Wundt (1896). The analysis exemplifies the procedure of establishing text maps; its potential value is heuristic. After visualizing the text topic structures contrastively, their differences are presented and discussed. On the basis of the parameters yielded in the analysis it is suggested that text maps provide a verifiable methodological tool for larger-scale empirical studies into the nature and scope of varying topic and discourse structures in intercultural communication.