Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation

Literature, Culture, Theory

by Gérard Genette, Richard Macksey (Foreword), Jane E. Lewin (Translator)

Paratexts are those liminal devices and conventions, both within and outside the book, that mediate between book, author and reader: titles, forewords and publishers' jacket copy form part of a book's private and public history. In this first English translation of Paratexts, Gérard Genette offers a global view of these liminal mediations and their relation to the reading public. With precision, clarity and through wide reference, he shows how paratexts interact with general questions of literature as a cultural institution. Richard Macksey's foreword situates Genette in contemporary literary theory.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Theory, Philosophy, Literature, Criticism, France

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Genette was largely responsible for the reintroduction of a rhetorical vocabulary into literary criticism, for example such terms as trope and metonymy. Additionally his work on narrative, best known in English through the selection Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method, has been of importance.[2] His major work is the multi-part Figures series, of which Narrative Discourse is a section. His trilogy on textual transcendence, which has also been quite influential, is composed of Introduction à l'architexte (1979), Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree (1982), and Paratexts. Thresholds of interpretation (1997).[3]
His international influence is not as great as that of some others identified with structuralism, such as Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss; his work is more often included in selections or discussed in secondary works than studied in its own right. Terms and techniques originating in his vocabulary and systems have, however, become widespread, such as the term paratext for prefaces, introductions, illustrations or other material accompanying the text, or hypotext for the sources of the text.

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The possible meanings, the receptions of a text are not solely constituted by the text itself - and Genette offers a theoretical framework to investigate paratextual information, from peritexts like book design, foreword, dedication, title and table of contents, to epitexts that exist outside the actual physical artefact, like interviews or ads for the book. This is just great stuff when trying to ponder the self-presentation of an author, and what influences the interpretation of writing and persona. Per usual, Genette has tons of examples to illustrate what his theoretical framework is supposed to achieve.

[Gerhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was recommended to me by my supervisor. I at first thought it had something to do with Samuel R. Delany’s notion of ‘paraliterature’ from ‘Starboard Wine’. Instead, paratexts are liminal devices and conventions, inside and outside a book, that combine in a complex mediation between book, author, publisher, and reader. Hence titles, forewords, epigraphs, and even publishers’ synopses all form part of a book’s “private and public history”.

What interests me is how this concept can be applied to film in particular. Here paratexts can run the gamut of trailers, posters, synopses, websites, and even the opening and end credits and use of voiceovers. Hence, paratexts seem ideally primed to shape audience expectations and interpretations in film, television, and even video games. From the page to the screen, engaging in narrative is a dynamic interaction between medium and author. As Genette states:

“For us, accordingly, the paratext is what enables a text to become a book and to be offered as such to its readers and, more generally, to the public. More than a boundary or a sealed border, the paratext is, rather, a threshold, or – a word Borges used apropos of a preface – a “vestibule” that offers the world at large the possibility of either stepping inside or turning back.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I didn't think it was possible, but I actually finally finished this! Really just an extended taxonomy with examples. Yet those examples, so many of them, so interesting.

[Natalia Ree]

„Eigentlich gilt oder sollte für den Autor wie für den Leser derselbe Grundsatz gelten, den dieser einfache Wahlspruch zusammenfaßt: Achtung vor dem Paratext!

Nichts wäre meines Erachtens ärgerlicher, als wenn man den Götzen des geschlossenen Textes – der ein oder zwei Jahrzehnte hindurch unser literarisches Bewußtsein beherrscht hat und zu dessen Destabilisierung die Untersuchung des Paratextes, wie wir gesehen haben, weitgehend beiträgt – durch einen neuen, noch eitleren Fetisch ersetzte, nämlich den des Paratextes. Der Paratext ist nur ein Behelf, ein Zubehör des Textes. […] Der Diskurs über den Paratext darf auch nie vergessen, daß er sich auf einen Diskurs bezieht, der sich auf einen Diskurs bezieht und der Sinn seines Gegenstands auf dem Gegenstand dieses Sinns beruht, der wieder ein Sinn ist. Schwellen sind zum Überschreiten da.“

[Polly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A text does not exist of the text itself. Sounds trivial, but it's often forgotten.

[Elena (ThePurpleCarrot) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Mjhancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genette defines and explores the paratexts of a text. Under his definition, paratext is essentially a threshold, the parts of a book beyond the explicit content that help the author convey his meaning. That includes elements included in the book (the peritext) and those outside (the epitext). Peritext includes the title, notes, prefaces, and so forth; epitext includes journals, correspondences, press releases, reviews, and so forth. And while a generation or two postmodernism has frowned at the notion of authorial intention, Genette defends his inclusion of authorial intention in the definition of paratext, on the grounds that authorial intention still has to be squared with, even if it's not the the only focus, and that the limits of paratext must be drawn somewhere. That seems to be a key point to me; paratext is a phrase that's been taken up in other studies, including film, television, and video games, and further authors tend to expand the term significantly. Genette recognizes that if it's to have any meaning, it must have limits, and while I disagree with the limits he chose, I agree with the general intent.
The book itself is somewhat scattered, though it's largely scattered by design. As such, I can't really advise a thorough, chapter-by-chapter reading, unless you are very, very interested in how Balzac used subtitles, for example. To get the general thrust of Genette's argument, I would instead recommend the introduction, the conclusion, and a section on the chapter on notes, where he states that the operating question for a scholar should never be whether a paratext exists, but whether it's useful to consider the text in that context.

[Dionysius the Areopagite]

This one's tough to archive by rating because while it could easily be read on one's own from beginning to end, for me it's more of a trade-sized textbook i.e. Paratexts would make for a tremendous interactive course, though one I would neither create, teach, nor perhaps even sit in on. I'll have to put this with H.S. Harris's Hegel's Ladder as books so expensive one is skeptical to buy them even within the bounds of excess cash. Would be a good edition to one's library otherwise. Till then, ILL on occasion ought to do the trick. Were I eight years younger and, perhaps, autistic, the work would have had more of an effect. In sum, proves to myself again my own theory which I do not always follow: Despite how unbelievably good a book seems, request it through ILL before ordering it. Each time the request goes through you save money, and sometimes by the time the book arrives one may have even lost a good deal of initial interest.

[ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

a veces, se nos olvida que la obra literaria es algo más que simple texto. genette en este libro analiza elementos que acompañan y condicionan al texto con una amplísima profusión de ejemplos (aunque casi siempre de las mismas dos o tres tradiciones, lo que hace el análisis un tanto limitado y escasamente panorámico). aún así, para mí es un libro clave ya que pone el énfasis sobre todas esos elementos que rodean a la literatura y que generalmente se dan por hecho, inconscientemente y con gran negligencia.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also normalerweise liebe ich ja alles, was Genette so geschrieben hat, aber dieses Buch besteht zu einem viel zu großen Teil aus Beispielen, mit denen ich nichts anfangen kann, weil ich nicht sonderlich viel französische Literatur gelesen habe und mich auch nicht allzu sehr für sie interessiere. Es zeigt sich, dass auch Genette nur einen sehr eingeschränkten Blick auf Literatur hat, aber den haben ja alle. Umso erstaunlicher ist es, dass so viele seiner Konzepte auch auf die Literatur anwendbar ist, die Genette gar nicht bedacht hat.

[David Areyzaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gérard Genette es la autoridad sobre los paratextos y este libro es la clasificación, definición y ejemplificación (gracias a un corpus literario bastante rico y diverso) de todos los paratextos para facilitar su estudio y descripción. Mediante la generación de nomenclatura para clasificar, por ejemplo, los prefacios de cualquier tipo de texto, posibilita el análisis de paratextos posteriores a los de su corpus.

[Pauline McGonagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what you might expect to be 'dry' material this is a very entertaining and enjoyable book helped by the numerous examples, not all from French literature.
A very good overview of the taxonomy of all aspects of the text which manages to be brief , yet detailed, intellectual yet humorous.
I concentrated mostly on Chapters, 3, 6 &7 for my work.
My favourite quote: ‘Don’t throw out your old epigraphs: they could be useful to your grandchildren, if they still know how to read’.

[Ekim · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far this is the most fruitful book I've read in this field. Genette presents plenty of examples along with the definitions of his terms, and it has been very helpful. Despite being an extremely intricate topic, paratexts come easy for me to interpret and detect after reading this book.

[Cep Subhan KM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a comprehensive one discussing the topic, but maybe it is the best one we could reach now.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

yum

[Helena]

Eigentleg nokså lettlesen til å vere ei fagbok, men vil ikkje anbefale til andre enn spesielt interesserte

[Moni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ubila me u pojam

[Daniel Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the clearest inspirations for my own book.

[Ri · Rating 3 out of 5]

putting meaning onto the tiniest details final boss (but lowk actually this is interesting)

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essential for any scholar of literature. It is a theoretical text that explains and explores the functions and meanings behind "paratexts" in literature (prologues, titles, prefaces, epilogues, interviews, etc.)

[Myles · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.4/5.0) Narratology should be more interesting than it is. Gérard Genette and his translators should be better writers than they are.

[iltatee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished it! (Kinda. Skipped some paragraphs and chapters not relevant right now for me.) A review will follow. Probably.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

La dédicace des livres dans l'Islam médiéval.