RESEARCH SUMMARY Linda McElroy, Ph.D. Column Editor Peritextual Analysis: What IS That? How Can It Help the Readers We Teach? Teachers are always seeking ways to support students in understanding the texts that they read. Using “peritext” is one helpful type of support. This research column will define this concept and discuss ways to incorporate it in instructional activities. Excellent resources for the discussion are a current book, Literacy Engagement Through Peritextual Analysis, edited by Shelbie Witte, Don Latham, and Melissa Gross, which was copublished by the National Council of Teachers of English and the American Library Association, along with selected research articles which are referenced in the book. Clear definitions are provided by the 2019 book and by one of the research articles, “The Peritextual Literacy Framework: Using the Functions of Peritext to Support Critical Thinking,” by Gross and Latham. The concept of “peritext” is grounded in a broader concept of “paratext”, which was developed by Gerard Genette. He described two components that go beyond an actual text to support readers’ understanding and engagement with the text. The components include: (a) Peritext, which includes elements that are part of a work, such as the title page, introductory notes and acknowledgements, table of contents, index, and source notes. (b) Epitext, which includes elements that are not part of a work, but point to it, such as book reviews, author websites, and works of critical literary analysis. Gross and Latham’s 2017 article reviews numerous other studies related to use of paratext. It then explains the development of a Peritextual Literacy Framework (PLF) that focuses on peritext and categorizes the functions of peritext. The PLF is presented in both the book and the article. Portions of the PLF are listed below. The Peritextual Literacy Framework: Types of Peritext: Production (elements that uniquely identify a work) Author, book designer, copyright, ISBN, illustrator, publisher, series title, title and subtitle, translator Promotional (elements that interface between the work and its potential audience) Advertisements, author biography, author website URL, award mediations, blurb/bla-bla, dust jacket, endorsements, list of other works by the author, list of other works by the publisher, list of other works in the series Navigational (elements that assist the reader in understanding the organization of the work and how to search the contents) Chapter divisions, index, intertitles, page numbers, table of contents Intertextual (elements within the work that interface between the work and the reader) Acknowledgements, afterword, dedication, foreword, preface Supplemental (elements outside the text proper that augment understanding of content) Pictures, captions, endpapers, glossary, maps, photographs, tables, time lines
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