 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Explication de Texte" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Explication de Texte is a French formalist method of literary analysis that allows for limited reader response, similar to close reading in the English-speaking literary tradition. The method involves a detailed yet relatively objective examination of structure, style, imagery, and other aspects of a work. It was particularly advocated by Gustave Lanson.
It is primarily a pedagogical tool, similar to a formal book report.
A simple format for writing an Explication de Texte is this:
- A brief summary of the literal, not the figurative, content;
- A description of the text's type and structure (e.g. Was it a sonnet? What kind?) and its tone;
- The poetic devices used in the text (e.g. personification)
- Conclusion
See also
References
- Aldridge, Alfred Owen; Meriwether, James B.; Fleishmann, Wolfgang Bernard (1963). "Symposium on "Explication de texte"". Books Abroad. 37 (3): 261–270. doi:10.2307/40117866. ISSN 0006-7431.
 | This literary criticism-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |