subtext: one construct, many systems

In acting, subtext is the unspoken thought, intention, or feeling running beneath a character's spoken lines (what the character really means or wants, as distinct from what they say), a notion central to the Stanislavski tradition of psychological realism. Pavis's Dictionary of the Theatre defines it as the implicit layer the actor must supply so that the words carry living intention. The referent is the gap between a line's surface and the inner life that motivates it, the raw material of a performance's depth.[1]

Unit

The unspoken intention or meaning beneath a character's spoken lines

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Inferred in rehearsal by analysing a character's objectives and what is left unsaid behind each line

In literary and narrative analysis, subtext is the implicit meaning that lies beneath the explicit words of a text: the implications, tensions, and themes a reader infers rather than reads on the surface. Abbott's The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative treats such implicit content as part of how narratives signify beyond their stated events. It is the same surface-versus-depth construct as the actor's subtext, applied to the reading of texts and gauged by what the writing implies without stating.[2]

Unit

The implied meaning a reader infers beneath the explicit text

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Drawn out by close reading of implication, tone, and what the text leaves unstated