TEXTUAL AND CONTEXTUAL READING APPROACHES

REPORTERS:
Lagos, Sheina Jane H.
Owen, John Martin B.

DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Textual
: of, relating to, or based on a text
Contextual
1: the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning
2: the interrelated  conditions in which something exists or occurs
Synonyms- environment, setting, milieu
Approach
: the taking of preliminary steps toward a particular purpose

Both textual and contextual analysis are generally used when doing an in-depth rhetorical
analysis of various works. While they are both taken advantage of, they are on opposite ends of
the spectrum of analysis and entail entirely different approaches.

TEXTUAL APPROACH
Textual analysis involves looking at the text as it is and what literary strategies it entails. There is an
emphasis on analyzing the style of the piece, words used and the way in which the speaker
delivers the message. Textual analysis also looks at the appeals; pathos, ethos and logos, to better
understand the argument that the author or speaker is trying to convey in their work. Overall, the
textual approach to rhetorical analysis is used to dig deep into the literal text and what is being
said and what the speaker is trying to defend or present to the reader.

CONTEXTUAL APPROACH
Contextual evidence on the other hand focuses on better understanding the reasons behind why a
particular piece is written, looking at it as part of a bigger picture, not just words on a paper, but
something that has a role in a particular time or event. In order to understand and analyze the
context of any piece, one must have information on the background of the topic, background of
the author as well as information about the time in which it is written. This is necessary to help
construct the bigger picture in which a particular piece is a part of because the contextual
approach to rhetorical analysis looks at things as a part of a larger picture or a response to
something else. Therefore, the context cannot be fully understood if one does not know the
background, but through contextual analysis, one can find out these various facts and best
understand the true reasons for a particular work, not just the literal words used.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Example which can be analyze thru textual and
contextual

Five Types of Contexts for Literary Works

By definition, anything not contained within the literary text itself is potentially context. However, not
all types of contexts will be germane to any particular literary work. Here are the broad categories of
context we will consider in this class.

1. Authorial context
Another term for this is biographical context. To say that authors write from their own
experiences is an exaggeration (imagination is important, too), but their lives always
influence their work in some way. That does not mean, however, that the author identifies
with the main character or even the narrator in a novel or the speaker in a poem, or that
the events or experiences he or she describes actually happened and the author is just
reporting what he or she has witnessed
2. Socio-historical context
Literary works often respond in some way to the society in which they were written, and
most often (though not always) that response takes the form of criticism.

3. Philosophical context
Contemporary authors consciously or subconsciously address the same questions that have
captivated humanity’s attention ever since we became prosperous enough to have the time
and energy to think about them

Categories of it:
1.Metaphysics
2.Ethics
4. Literary Context
https://sites.psu.edu/hgrclblog/2015/09/10/textual-v-contextual-analysis/#:~:text=One
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