subtext

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subtext

underlying or implicit meaning, as of a literary work: What is the subtext of the story?

Not to be confused with:

subset – a set that is part of a larger set

subtype – a subordinate type; a special type included in a more general type

sub·text

(sŭb′tĕkst′)

1. An implicit meaning or theme of a literary text.

2. The underlying personality of a dramatic character as implied or indicated by a script or text and interpreted by an actor in performance.

sub·tex·tu·al (-tĕks′cho͞o-əl) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

subtext

(ˈsʌbˌtɛkst)

1. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) an underlying theme in a piece of writing

2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) a message which is not stated directly but can be inferred

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sub•text

(ˈsʌbˌtɛkst)

n.

the underlying or implicit meaning, as of a literary work.

[1945–50; translation of Russian podtékst]

Translations

subtext

[ˈsʌbtekst] N → subtexto m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

subtext

[ˈsʌbtɛkst] n → sujet m sous-jacent

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

subtext

n the subtext → das eigentlich Gemeinte

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in periodicals archive ?

This, Jordan Peele's follow-up to his 2017 creepy sleeper hit Get Out, is more overtly horror, but shares that film's subtext about race in America.

Ewan's movie of the week; US AMAZON PRIME

I was anticipating the well-known homoerotic subtext. I wasn't anticipating the peeping in a gay bathhouse, slap you in the face, text-text.

Queer Yiddishkeit

The poll analysing British subtext found that "half of Americans wouldn't be able to tell that a British person is calling them an idiot".

Half of Americans 'wouldn't realise if Brit is calling them an idiot', poll finds; A YouGov poll analysing British subtext found that some Americans may misunderstand certain phrases

Corpus Stylistics as Contextual Prosodie Theory and Subtext. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2016.

Bill Louw and Marija Milojkovic. Corpus Stylistics as Contextual Prosodie Theory and Subtext

Seger, a script consultant, explains how to incorporate subtext in screenplays and fiction.

Writing Subtext: What Lies Beneath, 2nd Edition

Now in a revised and expanded edition for both screenwriters and novel writers, Writing Subtext: What Lies Beneath is a guide to the intricate yet ultimately rewarding art of crafting works with rich subtext.

Writing Subtext, revised edition

Both books excel in drawing out the "big questions" that haunt the subtext of their focus and make them painfully relevant to our time and place.

Alecos Papadatos, Abraham Kawa, and Annie Di Donna: Democracy

The Qur'an and Its Biblical Subtext. By GABIUEL SAID REYNOLDS.

The Qur'an and Its Biblical Subtext

Friday Subtext The Annexe, Edinburgh Subtext Drum n Bass brings to you the launch and debut of High Maintenance, an up and coming producer in the DnB scene.

7 CLUBS; Laura Thompson's essential clubhopping guide to the hottest nights this week

It's obvious that the subtext is that Salmond realises the likelihood of a two-question referendum, which would doom independence anyway, is fast disappearing and that the only way he can persuade the undecided with unionist leanings to say yes to separation is to bin all the fundamental Nat policies and present the result as quasi-federalism.

Alex is a slippery Salmond

Digital reading company Subtext announced on Tuesday its first product, a reading app for the iPad.

Subtext introduces reading app for iPad

STORYTIME: sisters Flitting back and forth between the present, when a young girl reads the fable to her sister, and the past, where the action takes place, it's a surreal little film with an intriguing Freudian subtext and a haunting blend of magic and gritty realism.