Paratext

Gerard Genette, a French literary theorist, was the first to apply the idea of paratext to literature. He claims that “There does not exist, and there never has existed, a text without paratext (Genette and Maclean p.263). Within the Jonathon Gray’s book Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers and Other Media Paratexts, Gray defines paratext as “texts that prepare us for other texts”  and states that “a text cannot exist without a paratext” (Gray p.25). Genette argues that main texts are always surrounded by other media forms supplied by authors, artists, and other creatives. These are regarded as the paratext. Most official paratexts often come in the form of cover art, toys, trailers, posters, interviews, reviews, marketing campaigns etc, and are often used as techniques for companies to increase their revenue off the back of the media products that they create.

Paratexts are the main way that us as media consumers, analyse and ultimately decide which media we want to consume. Before a media piece is released (i.e a movie) we first are presented with a series of many different paratexts such as official teaser trailers and artwork from the film, in order to spark interest and entice us into consumption. Throughout the consumption of the media text, paratexts continue to have an effect on how we as consumers absorb media. “When we move onward to the film or program, those paratexts help frame our consumption; but when we do not move onward, all we are left with is the paratext” (Gray p.26).

For example, reading a negative review of a text online prior to watching it, could lead you to pick up on more negative aspects of the official text than you would have had you not been exposed to the paratext, prior to consuming the official text. Alternatively, reading a good review of a film when deciding whether or not its something you’d want to watch, could ultimately sway your decision to go and watch it, therefore acting as a secondary marketing technique or free advertising for the media company behind the original text. With this, could it be fair to say that the paratext may become more important than the original text considering the power that it has over the consumer?