Talk:Textuality

the "text"

Currently the article links to text. Should this be text ? We should avoid links to dab pages unless discussing the ambiguous nature of the term. John Vandenberg 04:29, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

It should either link to the dab page (since the ambiguity is indeed part of the point) or not link at all. It shouldn't link to writing, because in fact text in this context is more or less directly opposed to writing--that is the word emerged because of the unsuitability of the words "writing," "language," or "work" to describe the object of textual study. Chick Bowen 04:35, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Indeed--not to belabor the point--instances of the word "text" in literary theoretical contexts should probably link here rather than to writing. Chick Bowen 04:37, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

I can see your point. I'm still not keen on "text" being linked in the first sentence as it could drive a user from Text->Textuality->Text , but Im out of my depth a bit. If it can be unlinked, it would be useful to add "Text" as a see also entry. Just my thoughts. John Vandenberg 05:36, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Hmm. I added a parenthetical definition. That might make matters worse, but as you can see, this is not easy stuff to make clear in a couple of paragraphs. Chick Bowen 05:46, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

I think that helps; the reader now knows that the word is being used in a particular sense. John Vandenberg 05:59, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Avoid the pitfalls of post(^n)modern writing

The definition is weak; the exposition is vague; the whole thing stinks of cant. This cannot be cured; it's a characteristic of the whole field to which this term belongs. Still, the WP article should avoid some of the specific mannerisms that make postmodern writing so opaque. For example:

• Avoid circular definitions ("Textuality, as a literary theory, is that which constitutes a text as a text in a particular way.")
• Don't expect a word in parenthesis to do the work of an explanatory clause ("The textualities of the text defines the characteristics, however, the characteristics are also closely associated with the structure of the text (structuralism).")
• Don't attribute voluntary action to inanimate or abstract subjects ("Through a text’s textuality, it makes itself mean, makes itself be, and makes itself come about in a particular way"; "The text is always hiding something. Although the reading may define and the interpretation may decide, the text does not define or decide.")
• Don't use transitive verbs intranstively ("The text’s indecidability, in fact, fabricates from its textuality or its textualities.")
• Identify relations precisely; don't just assert that things are related in some unnamed way ("This is closely linked to "post-structuralism" which is in fact, closely linked also to textuality"; "the characteristics are also closely associated with the structure of the text")
• Avoid compounding abstract terms ("Through its textuality, the text relinquishes its status as identity and affirms its condition as pure difference.")

Feel free to add to this list.—Wegesrand (talk) 17:41, 16 January 2014 (UTC)

Differentiation page needed

"Textual" happens to be an IRC client for Macs. Will (Talk - contribs) 06:08, 5 January 2016 (UTC)

The word is also used differently in literacy studies, though the concept is related to this article. See Brian Stock, "History, Literature, and Medieval Textuality", 1983. Hilty7 (talk) 02:13, 30 June 2022 (UTC)