Close-Reading for Genre
The central two-fold question guiding you in reading with this method is: For Kenneth Burke, form is an "arousing and fulfillment of desires. A work has form in so far as one part of it leads a reader to anticipate another part, to be gratified by the sequence" (Counter-Statement 124). Thus, exploring how a text participates in, or applies a given genre or genres, requires one to examine the form--the generic pattern--of a given text and how it affects the reader.
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Writing the second reading calls the writer to present:
This will require some research to not just provide the name of the genre, for instance, fantasy, romance, horror, comedy, tragedy, maturation (Bildungsroman), etc., but also provide the distinctive features of the genre. One tool to assist you in discovering this is to distinguish the value that controls and structures the genre, which also determines the substantive and stylistic features of the genre. Below are three codes (please see Silverman, 250-270) that will help guide you toward noticing those patterns as they appear in the text. Working through these codes will assist in opening the door to reading for intertextuality, the traces of other texts in the text you are reading, as well as the presupposed patterns and associated values that come with any such traces. |
Semic Code
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Defines characters, objects, and places through repetitively grouping a number of signifiers ("semes": words and phrases) around a proper name. Because this code defines characters, objects, and places, the semic code sets up relationships of power that often reinforce cultural codes.
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Proposes, maintains through numerous delays, and ultimately resolves enigmas. Barthes analyzes the hermeneutic code into ten parts that expand the semic code. All ten are not necessarily present:
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Thematization
Proposal of the enigma Formulation of the enigma Request for an answer Snare Equivocation Jamming Suspended answer Partial answer Disclosure |
The semic definition of character, object, place as mysterious
The dawning of the actual mystery Various supplementations that amplify the mystery The desire to resolve the mystery announced Deception or evasion A statement that is both true and false Failure to find an answer, triggering desire to know Overt holding back of an answer Piecemeal revelations Moment of closure; end of signification (semic) |
Proairetic Code
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