Overall-Extended Close Reading” and Subtexts of Short Stories

Bibliographic Data

ID8864844
AuthorsDan Shen (0000-0002-5795-672X, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume91
Issue2
Pages150-169
Publication date2010-03-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnglish Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-838X • E-ISSN: 1744-4217
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00138380903355163
OpenAlexW2030566778
LanguageEN
References cited10

To meet the challenge of how to make full use of the advantages of close reading while avoiding its earlier limitations, this essay proposes the method of “ overall-extended close reading”, which may effectively help reveal the subtexts of short stories. An “overall” consideration of the interaction among the local details in different parts of the text may enable us to see a hidden large meaning-structure, which in turn may shed new light on the local details. Moreover, an “extended” consideration of the relation between the text and the socio-historical context as well as of the associations between the work under investigation and various related works may help to put things in perspective and to test, supplement or reinforce the findings of the textual exploration. This essay shows the function and effectiveness of “overall-extended close reading” with the investigation of Katherine Mansfield's “Revelations” and, in particular, of Stephen Crane's “An Episode of War”

Art · Close reading · Context (archaeology · Data mining · Epistemology · Function (biology · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Literature · Meaning (existential · Perspective (graphical · Reading (process · Relation (database · Test (biology · Computer Science · Contemporary Literature and Criticism · Narrative Theory and Analysis · Short Stories in Global Literature · Artificial Intelligence · History · Philosophy

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