Subtext - Definition

Definition

The author David Baboulene, in his practical academic work on Story Theory — The Story Book — defines subtext as "the result of any form of gap in knowledge between any of the participants in a story; for example, between the author and a character, between two characters or between the audience and at least one character."

An example of this occurs in the 1978 movie Superman. Lois Lane has just met Clark Kent. The subtext is that she has taken an instant dislike to him. At the surface, however, their conversation seems only to solicit and supply information about the existence of others of Clark Kent's type. "Any more at home like you?" she inquires. "Uh, not really, no", Clark replies.

Read more about this topic:  Subtext

Famous quotes containing the word definition:

    The man who knows governments most completely is he who troubles himself least about a definition which shall give their essence. Enjoying an intimate acquaintance with all their particularities in turn, he would naturally regard an abstract conception in which these were unified as a thing more misleading than enlightening.
    William James (1842–1910)

    The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction.... The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyperreal.
    Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)

    It’s a rare parent who can see his or her child clearly and objectively. At a school board meeting I attended . . . the only definition of a gifted child on which everyone in the audience could agree was “mine.”
    Jane Adams (20th century)