paratext theory

In a short oral presentation I will (1) give a rough survey of alleged (potential) elements of a video game’s paratext (epi- and peritext) by screening and commenting on exemplary, mainly digital, audio-visual media.
Based on such illustrative material, (2) I will turn to the question of whether these examples actually are elements of a video game’s paratext. Elaborating on some thoughts developed in my forthcoming chapter on “Video Game Framings” I argue that as long as we do not have a clear definition of the term ‘paratext’ it is impossible to answer this question – to use a catchy phrase: no verification without definition.
Since the term ‘paratext’ was introduced to the debate by literary theorist Gérard Genette, (3)
his definitional stipulations – posing the (alleged) point of reference for everyone actually
using the term ‘paratext’ – are reconstructed in outline.
After these meta-terminological elucidations, (4) I will briefly touch upon the questionable use of ‘paratext’ in recent media and video game studies. As critical examination reveals, the terminology in this field of research is rather vaguely connected to, and sometimes even completely detached from, Genette’s definition.
As an objection and a constructive alternative to such blurry redefinitions, (5) I will present my own explicative definition of ‘paratext’ (with regard to video games). Additionally, I propose supplementing the term as an analytical tool with the higher-order umbrella term ‘framings’.
Leading over to discussion, I will then (6) indicate – at least tentatively – whether or not the selected audio-visual elements presented earlier could/should be labeled as elements of a video game’s paratext.

(Source: Author's Abstract)

With reference to Gérard Genette’s notion of paratext, I will discuss some characteristics of digital-only content in general and paratextual features in particular.
I will present paratextual theory as a productive analytical tool that may be used to study emerging literacies as witnessed by the paratextual structure and dynamics of hybrid and digital-only content.
To offer a general conceptual framework enabling one to analyse paratextual practices and devices in digital culture, I will
1) interpret e-paratext as “technologies of the intellect” with indebtedness to the work of Jack Goody. Goody ‘s intentionally imprecise but nonetheless productive notion of “technologies of the intellect” may help us explore the power of cultural creativity and inventiveness on the breeding grounding of inherently transient digital-only media;
2) derive the notion of e-paratext from the more general notion of deixis to explain the inescapability of paratextual practices.

(Source: Author's Abstract)

In his approach, Gérard Genette studies the elements of texts called paratext that are not the core of text but still influential for understanding or interpreting literature. He identified two different groups of paratext and divided them into peritext and epitext (Genette 1997). Peritext is strongly related to the author’s intention and includes elements like the title, preface, table of contents, etc. Epitext is separated from the text and consists of interviews, commentaries, letters by the author about the text, debates, etc. Both, they can guide and influence the interpretation of texts. Genette also states that paratext is very changeable, temporary fashion and can appear and disappear. In this contribution, I want arise the question whe
ther special kinds of representing the reader’s understanding of texts can be also seen as paratext. So, is it possible to expand the borders of Genette’s definition to integrate the reader’s mind?

(Source: Author's Abstract)

My talk will examine the paratextual play inspired by Nick Montfort's generative poem "Taroko Gorge," which has prompted more than two dozen adaptations and remixes of its source code.
The poem's code is as much an object of fascination for its community of readers as the poem it outputs. What is the "paratext" in this setting? Is it the commented code directed at human readers? The two dozen adaptations? The "Taroko Gorge" meme authored by Talan Memmott? Or might it be the poetic output itself? One could think of the outputted poem as a dazzling book cover-like illustration of main story, the 131-line source code.
In print-based works, source text and paratext exhibit a clearly delineated ontological priority. The text is the main focus and paratexts augment or problematize it. My talk takes up the challenge of identifying the paratext in "Taroko Gorge," which is unstable and dynamic in at least two ways: as procedural code rendering outputs infinitely; and as a social practice among e-literature writers for whom "Taroko" has become a non-exclusive node for the social practice of remix. Of the Taroko adaptations we might ask: at what point does paratext become its own text? When does it stop being a paratext, if at all? My own "Tournedo Gorge" doesn't alter Montfort's code; it riffs on the double-entendre between cooking and executable code. "FirstChild" conjures "Julia Child"; "recipes" find affinity in "procedural" code and "authoring." I copied Nick Montfort's code for his generative poem “Taroko Gorge” and filled the variables with my own words and context. I wrote “Tournedo Gorge” because I wanted to mash the space of
computation with the female, domestic, and tactile.
Literary critical traditions customarily locate "art" as the end product: not the draft but the publication; not paper and ink, but the story those material objects conjure. In my talk I will explore why the "Taroko Gorge" paratext are unstable, and why such instability reveals new ways to conceptualize how poetry and media studies talk to each other.

(Source: Author's Abstract)

Twenty-six years after its original publication in French, I examine and propose to revisit a traditional literary theory bound to the book-as-object for the realm of literature in programmable media: paratext theory as envisioned by French narratologist Gérard Genette (translated into English by Jane E. Levin, 1997). To Genette, paratext is that which accompanies a text. He differentiates and distinguishes paratexts according to location of appearance and the sender of paratextual information. Two concepts are relavant: peri- and epitext. Genette speaks and identifies peritexts as those elements of the book dictated by a publisher devoted to the cover, typesetting, format etc. and epitexts which exist outside a book in the form of notes and interviews. Both elements merge into what Genette calls paratext theory, all of which carry out a functionality. Among others, Genette envisions paratexts to fulfill a “literary function“ which serve for guiding a readers reading; a claim under critical exploration in this presentation. Investigating the theme of this conference, I question how paratext theory may help to locate the literary in electronic literature. How do the paratextual elements, or, more specific in the here presented context: how do peritexts that surround and point to a texts existence in fact point to a work’s literary content? Given the very informational original nature and functionality of paratexts, it should be expected to locate a work’s text in these liminal devices that accompany works of electronic literature. Methodologically, I take into consideration, compare, and search for locating the literary in different peritexts to one and the same work. Among others, the Electronic Literature Directory (ELD) that presents readers with encyclopedic articles on creative works is of particular interest to this study. The paper examines selected article contributions from the ELD, as well as work descriptions in the Electronic Literature Collection and asks how these locate the literary of a work. Text in an peritext is located if substantial engagement with a texts literary content is identified. This is true if a description relates to the themes and a work‘s motifs, if it presents a work’s characters, time, space, and setting of the imaginative writing. Optionally, the literary may also be located in a presentation of how a work’s material strategy and behavior relates to the content of a work. The paper intends to make the e-lit community attentive to locate text in paratexts to creative works. This is relevant if a works technical obsolesence is considered. Despite of archival work, if a paratext is all that is available should a work no longer be accessible, one should wish for a paratext that formally is as extensible as possible and as comprehensible as possible when it comes to a work’s literary content that is no longer readable. Such a proposal conceives paratexts as cultural heritage. It relates to Philppe Bootz’s and Alexandra Saemmer’s writing on the theory put forward in the discussion of the “lability of the device“ and builds on Saemmer who in an article states “I [thus] consider the paratext as an ultimate defence against the lability of our digital creations, as well as a part of my work“ (90).

Source: Author's Abstract