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Text and Textuality

Analysing the concepts text and textuality is at this point crucial if we are not to avoid crass
generalizations of terms and concepts or clog two distinct terms into one hazy discussion. In
effect this brief juxtaposition of both terms is aimed at clarifying the explanation of text and
textuality that is most suitable for our research on the literay and cultural reflection on
African migrant textualities. The distinction between text and textuality has always occupied
a pivotal point in the discourse of literary critics. An effective way in which the difference
between the two concepts can be deciphered could start with the definitions of each term.
Starting withtext, Vivienne Brown provides us with a semantic approach that begins with an
exploration of the term from its etymological origins. Brown traces the word text to the past
participle stem of the latin word texere, to weave, intertwine, plait or compose. Logically,
the English words textile and texture also derive from the same latin word. According to
Brown, the etymology of the word text is visible in expressions that refer to the weaving
of a story, and threads of an argument or the texture of a piece of writing. A text could be
described as a weaving or network of analytic, conceptual, logical and theoretical connections
that are woven with the threads of language.
1
Through this definition we observe how Brown
highlights the importance of language, this is because her explanation of the term text
implies that language is not a transparent form through which arguments are articulated but is
interwoven with or provides the very filaments of the substantive arguments themselves.
Browns explanation of text does not give a holistic evaluation of the nature of texts that
serve the main objectives of this research, which is African migrant texts that are a
concatenation of historical, cultural and sociological elements, to mention a few. Although
her etymological exposition of text, which focuses on weaving or knitting together analytic,
conceptual and theoretical connections through language, provides an understanding that is
basic and thus lays a strong foundation for a comprehensive view of the term.
On another level, the determination of the term text has raised controversies, with different
schools of thought presenting different variations of what the concept implies. Marxists will
suggest that the meaning of a text cannot be separated from its position in a context defined
by the history of class struggle. Freudians will assert that the real meaning is centred on
personality and family romance articulated in the mechanisms of psychoanalytic theory. A
structuralist will argue that textual meaning exposes the inner workings of the human

1
Vivienne Brown, "Textuality and the History of Economics." A Companion to the History of Economic Thought,
W. J. Samuels et al. Blackwell, eds. 2003
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consciousness which can best be understood in the light of the teachings of Saussure and
Jakobson on the nature of language. A new critic will proffer a totally different approach by
stating that the meaning of a text can be revealed through a network of relations internal to
the text itself, regardless of its affinity with historical context or authorial pretext.
2
These
diverse descriptions of the term bear testimony to the fact that various theories have moulded
the concept to suit their ideologies while pointing to the impossibility of arriving at a
unanimous agreement on a coherent definition of the term. However, the definition proffered
by the new critic does not suffice for the purposes of this research since historical context and
authorial pretext, which it considers as irrelevant, occupies a central position in our analysis
of African migrant textualities of the 20
th
and 21
st
century. This is because -apart from
focusing on a juxtaposition of the perception of African migrants in a post-imperial Europe of
the 20
th
and 21
st
century- one of the main objectives of this study is to analyse the life of
African migrants through texts that are located in a colonial and postcolonial context.
Although, an examination of the differing explanations of text is intended to be brief in this
section of our discourse, another significant definition worth mentioning is that of W.F.
Hanks: When used as a mass noun, text is composed of interconnected sentences.
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This
short definition which highlights interconnected sentences, is significant because it
automatically calls to mind, all those thinkers whose concept of text is limited to the written
text and by implication, the author as the major factor to be considered in textual
discussions. Focusing on the written text will be adversely contested by descriptive
linguistics who make a clear-cut distinction between the written text and the spoken text. This
is because an adequate understanding of the language system (verbal and non verbal
language) involves a consideration of the role played by stress, speed, loudness, pitch and
voice quality in meaning. In effect, all the above features of language are more or less
obliterated by the transposition into the written form.
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Furthermore, a definition of textuality
that is limited to the written form or focuses on the reader or the author alone cannot be
effective in the study and discussion of migrant texts. The reason is that migrant narratives
are not limited to written texts but are also conveyed in diverse and multiple forms including
cinematic, pictorial and sometimes theatrical modes of expression. In addition, new media

2
Stout, Jeffrey. What is the Meaning of a Text? New Literary History. 14. (1982): 1-21 Problems of Literary
Theory. Web. 20 January 2014
3
Hanks,W.F. Text and Textuality Annual Review of Anthropology, 18. (1989): 95-127 Annual Reviews. Web.
20 January 2014
4
Childs, Peter. Fowler, Roger (eds.) The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms, New York: Taylor and Francis
Group
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and the rise of digital technologies have opened doors to even newer forms of textualizations.
As a result, we are bombarded with migrant texts in social media, online movie clips
(Youtube), virtual migrant communities online, blogs and mobile/digital posters about
immigrants. [Mention the larger field of textualities that my text attacks
Now, turning our attention to a brief analysis of the discussions on textuality, in the Anthem
dictionary of literary theory, Peter Auger defines textuality as the state of being expressed in
written language.
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Thus Textuality is explained as a theoretical concept linked to
poststructuralist and deconstruction theories that explain texts and their meaning as
inseparable from their written form. There is nothing outside the text (rien hors du text): All
meaning is unstable, determined only by competing DISCOURSES that are present in all
languages.
6
Laying emphasis on the written form of texts, Augers definition also clings to
the famous Derridean quotation which leans towards, or fully embraces a deconstructionist
method of approach.
Stouts elucidation of the concept of textuality, although reductive, provides an interesting
view that links it to certain elements that form the preoccupation of African migrant
textualities. Stouts approach is reductive in the sense that it limits the idea of textuality to
two major systems, first is that of the authors intentions-what he or she meant (intended) to
do in writing the text. The second is the contextual significance of the text, which considers
the significance of a text within the given frame of reference or system of relations.
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The
explanation given here contains the important element of the author that will be continually
under scrutiny in our examination of migrant texts from Emecheta, Gurnah, Diome and Taia
whose authorial intentions occupies not all, but some of the main points of focus in this
criticism. However, Stouts views reduce the scope of textuality, occluding the function and
role of the reader, with no references to the position of a narrative within a network of
meanings from other texts (Intertextuality).
Jamie Carrolls description of the term textuality differs from the ideas of Stout, because his
definition of text moves between text and textuality implying a gradual progression from a
singular word or symbol to a symbolic structure woven by the threads of language.
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Carrolls
explanation of textuality also charts a path entirely different from Stout because his argument

5
Auger, Peter. Text and Textuality, The Anthem Dictionary of Literary Terms and Theory, (London: Anthem
Press, 2010)p. 309
6
Ibid.
7
Stout Jeffrey, What is the Meaning of a Text?
8
Carroll, Jamie. Text Theories of Media, Chicago: The University of Chicago, 2002. Web. 21 January 2014
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traces structuralisms emphasis on the importance of the author in textual studies and
proceeds to comment on Roland Barthes death of the author theory which projects the reader
and the practice of reading as the paradigmatic point in literary theory.
The work of Hugh Silverman which charts a different path from those of Auger, Stout and
Carroll on textuality is particularly important in this chapters attempt at a clarification of
texts and textuality because certain aspects of his arguments will be co-opted in order to
indicate a definite descriptive overview of the sense in which textuality will be applied in this
research. To make things clear, his explication of the term textuality will be divided into three
major parts and this section of the research will explain why the first part (Silvermans
definition) will be applied to the primary and secondary texts of this thesis. Similar to the
views of Carroll on textuality presented earlier, Silverman states:
A reading of a text occurs through its textuality or textualities. The text is what is read
but its textuality or textualities is how it is read. An interpretation of the text arises in
that the textualities are understood as the meaning structure(s) of the text...The text is
apart from its readings and interpretations. Its textuality or textualities are constituted
in a reading of the text and identified through an interpretation of it.
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First, Silvermans definition of textuality accommodates the plural form of this concept,
which provides the option for considering the singular textuality or plural textualities. In this
way, it makes it open for the accommodation of the Francophone and Anglophone African
narratives that occupy our interest. Secondly, it lays emphasis on textuality stating how a
text is read and distinguishes it from the text as what is read. Finally, Silvermans definition
of the concept is constantly pointing at the central role of interpretation as a way of
determining the textuality of a text. This coincides with our desire to read, analyse and
interpret African migrant narratives from postcolonial migrants as well as the diverse body of
texts from Europe and the postcolonial nation state.
The Second part of Silvermans discourse, presents the notion of the text as an indecidable,
the following quotation from Silverman articulates his thoughts: The text is an indecidable.
The Texts indecidability is elaborated in terms of and as an operative feature of its textuality.
Indeed the textss textuality is its indecidability.
10
Although this aspect of Silvermans
theory is the point at which we path ways with the author, it is crucial to mention- albeit very

9
Silverman, Hugh. Textuality: Between Hermeneutics and Deconstruction. New York: Routledge, 1994.p. 81
10
Ibid, p. 80
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briefly- this part of the critics teaching, since it summons all the ghosts of Derridas
deconstruction teaching, including the voices of authors like Gayatri Spivak who favour a
Derridean approach to texts. At this same time it also calls to mind all opposing groups like
Michel Foucault and some of his proponents like Edward Said. The major reason this
research does not follow the path of Silvermans notion of the text as an indecidable is
because the reader occupies a strategic position in the examination of migrant texts.
Especially since the narratives cut across diverse linguistic and pluri-cultural attempts to
grapple with the realities of diasporic lives in European city-scapes. Thus in our analysis of
postcolonial migrant narratives, our primary and secondary materials will not be treated as
indecidables.
The discussion of textuality that we designate to be the third part of Silvermans discourse is
particularly significant because he does not treat the concept in isolation. Rather, he opens it
up for both a philosophical and literary process of enquiry. He states that a philosophy of the
text would necessarily also cut across the domain of the literary, and a literary theory of the
text would also be a matter of concern for philosophy. Silverman connects these necessary
threads of his argument by stating that a theory of textuality would require both the
methodological interests of philosophy and the theoretical practice of literary concerns. In
other words, the theoretical practice of reading textualities will account for the contours of
literature, the logics of literary study, the status of the text along with the functions of
meaning and a concise explication of the relationship between interpretation and meaning.
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In our discussion of migrant textualities, this all inclusive approach to texts that consider the
interpretations and meanings of narratives written by and about African migrants would
appear to be satisfactory at first glance, but the nature of the African migrant discourse
warrants an inclusion of cultural and media elements. These subtle but crucial factors in the
field of cultural studies -and which this research will be applying to the study of Migrant
textualities- have been clearly articulated in Christoph Reinfandts discussion of the textual
dimensions of culture. Reinfandt calls for an analysis of texts that offers a balanced synthesis
of literary studies, cultural studies and media studies.
12
Thus, a more holistic approach to
migrant textualities will subscribe to this argument that literary studies should be practiced

11
Ibid, p. 70
12
Reinfandt, Christoph. Texture as a Key Term in Literary and Cultural Studies. Text or Context: Reflections
on Literary and Cultural Criticism. Eds. Rudiger Kunow and Stephan Mussil. Tubingen:
Konigshausen&Newmann, 2013. P. 7

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as cultural studies with an awareness of media-historical conditioning, while conversely,
cultural and media studies could profit from literary studies long standing expertise in
analysing texts.
13
The discussion of Emechetas Second Class Citizen would appear skeletal
if no mention is made about the media buzz on Enoch Powells rivers of blood speech which
dominated the popular discourse about the presence of immigrants in 70s London. Neither
will the texts of Gurnah be fully appreciated without recourse to insights on the Swahili
language as well as Islamic cultural practices. In the same vein, a holistic appreciation of the
struggles of queer migrants in the critical reading of Taias texts will open doors for
considering Berber culture and lead to the appreciation of the controversies sparked in the
French and Morroccan media by his coming out of the shadows and the publication of one of
his most controversial articles Lhomosexualit expliquer a ma mere.
Corrections and Suggestions
The reason for the text, where it falls in, what it is going to do...
Begin with Silverman, locate his arguments between Text and Textuality and
Post structural theory that goes from Text to Textuality
Slot the theoretical approaches between Text and textuality
State what I am going to do from the start
Blue print
Recapitulations, where we are going and where, were we are and we have arrived...
The what and the why of the chapter
Other texts You-tube video, blogs, e.t.c how is my work embedded within the bigger picture.
The textualities, the importance of other generative discourses.
Short formats
The larger picture/frame work
Assumptions that a reader brings to the text

13
Ibid.
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(Christoph)Using Silverman as the major source of the divide ....Poststructuralism...stbilizing
mechanisms of culture, the unfolding textualities which hep to stabilise certain discourses of
migration.