What is meant by paratext?

In literary interpretation, paratext is material that surrounds a published main text (e.g., the story, non-fiction description, poems, etc.) supplied by the authors, editors, printers, and publishers. Other editorial decisions can also fall into the category of paratext, such as the formatting or typography.

Who coined the term paratext?

Definition Paratext is a term coined by the French literary critic Gérard Genette. The term appears for the first time in Genette’s Introduction à l’architexte (1979) and is mentioned again in Palimpsests (1982) as one of five types of relationship between literary texts [1].

What is a paratext example?

Paratexts are basically everything except the text—everything that’s beside (para in Greek) the body of the work. So when you’re reading The Great Gatsby, that awesome cover is considered a paratext. So is the table of contents of your current People magazine issue and the index of your high school science textbook.

Is paratext a title?

Paratext includes not only title, foreword, dedication, afterword, etc., but also the elements of a books’ design (for example, design of cover, typography, summary) or external advertising copies which accompany books, such as interviews with the author.

Is a trailer a paratext?

On the one hand, a trailer can be seen as a meta- or paratext, surrounding, supporting and sometimes subverting film by modifying its reception.

What are Paratextual elements?

In the field of Literary Theory, paratexts comprise those elements which accompany the text, either within it or outside it (Genette 1997), and can be classified within two broad categories: peritexts, which are paratexts within the same book, and epitexts, which are paratexts outside the book.

What is a paratext in film?

A paratext is a sub-text that supports a main text and shapes an audience’s perceptions and knowledge of the main text; paratexts are “texts that prepare us for other texts” (Gray 25). Jonathan Gray applied this paratext theory to film in his book Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts.

What are the 5 types of Transtextuality According to Gérard Genette?

Genette provided five subtypes of transtextuality, namely: intertextuality, paratextuality, architextuality, metatextuality, and hypertextuality (also known as hypotextuality).

Is a promotional poster a paratext?

Considering the first function of paratext (the interpretivefunction), the entryway paratexts such as a film’s poster, trailer, director’s name, promos and previews attempt to usher the spectators into the cinema (Gray 2010, p. 23). Put simply, the entryway paratexts are considered as an appetizer.