Epic Text and Supertext

One of the most important areas of modern linguistics deals with interrelated texts (supertext). In some cases the specific features of language and texts become particularly obvious when they are viewed against the backdrop of historical materials. The author used the methods of comparative analysis in terms of texts and supertext structures when investigating French medieval Chansons de Geste, one of the world’s greatest epics. The research revealed (showed) that the structures of the epic text and supertext are parallel to each other: the relationship of the episodes in one text is similar to that of the texts making up the supertext. The whole text or its parts may function as praetext, posttext or intercalate at the supertext level. The episodes of an epic text perform similar functions at the level of a separate text. The epic text has the quality of openness, its boundaries are not always clearly defined and it can be easily included in a supertext entity.

text, text history, supertext, supertext entity, epic text, praetext, posttext, intercalate, supertext nuclear structure, intertextual link, text-forming function, supertext coherence, compressive content