Subtext
In linguistics, subtext is understood to be a level that is based on the explicit statement of a sentence as an additional, implicit level of meaning .
definition
Often the subtext is also defined as what is "actually" supposed to be said; however, this definition is imprecise and even problematic, as the two levels of meaning are interdependent. In contrast to the explicit statement, which ideally is understandable for everyone, subtext is only accessible to readers, listeners, etc. who have special additional information. Understanding subtext is always an interpretation that is also known as "reading between the lines" and is usually extremely ambiguous. Without knowing who is doing the interpretation and what previous experience they have, it is not possible to predict how the interpretation of the subtext will turn out, what is understood as a subtext or whether a subtext is recognized at all or whether an attempt is made to recognize it.
Use of subtext in art and society
Subtext is an elementary medium in art. Apparently playful or aesthetically used artistic stylistic devices often contain subtext, which in part first has to be interpreted and is therefore only accessible to some of the recipients.
In literature, subtext usually arises from the connotation (meaning content) of words and sentences. In theater plays, for example, very different subtexts can also be given to the same written sentence via a variation in pronunciation, tone of voice and manner of speaking; Such linguistic sub-texts are also referred to by the word undertone , which comes from music . In music, stylistic figures can also be used in the form of symbols or musical quotations , which can only be recognized and deciphered as subtext by trained or "initiated" listeners. In film and theater, the level of visual allusions to scenes from other films and plays comes into play, as well as the full range of sub-texts that lie in the habitus, gestures and facial expressions of the actors.
Subtexts can also aim to deliberately not allow the undesired part in the audience and audience to interpret. This can be done, among other things, by disguising the choice of words, for example in youth language or sociolects . In view of censorship , even superficially insignificant details of a work of art can contain subliminal “subversive” subtext and thus smuggle actually forbidden content uncensored through the controls.
Examples
- Situational behavior (gestures / facial expressions): Disregarding a conversation partner or unsuitable answers provide the subtext that a person is not interested in the content of the speaker.
- Emphasis: Depending on the tone of voice and manner of speaking, a wording which is neutral in terms of the wording can be understood as a condescending instruction or a friendly hint.
- Constant or recurring behavior: A man's long-term devotional endeavors towards a man he is friends with can often only be interpreted as an expression of homosexual infatuation for experts; the same behavior towards a woman recognizes a significantly larger target group.
- Suggestion / explicit emphasis by omitting the (obviously) essential, e.g. B. Cabaret artist Werner Schneyder on the difference between Bruno Kreisky and Helmut Kohl: "Austria is a very insignificant country with a very important chancellor - Germany, on the other hand, is a very important country."
- Criticism based on ambiguity: the cabaret artist Werner Finck during the Second World War "there is no food shortage, people just queue."
literature
- Armin von Bogdandy : The European constitution and European identity. Text and subtext of the Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe. In: International journal of constitutional law Vol. 3, 2005, 2/3, ISSN 1474-2640 , pp. 295-315.
- Siglind Bruhn : Images and ideas in modern French piano music. The extra-musical subtext in piano works by Ravel, Debussy, and Messiaen. Pendragon Press, Stuyvesant NY 1997, ISBN 0-945193-95-5 , (Aesthetics in music 6).
- Dietmar Mieth : Gender theory as a subtext of theological ethics. Wewel, Munich 2004, (Theological Quarterly Volume 184, ISSN 0342-1430 , No. 1).
