“When we perform textual analysis on a text, we make an educated guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might be made of that text.”
That is the simple definition of textual analysis by Alan McKee, Media Professor. One of this week’s readings was an excerpt from a piece by McKee, in which he outlines what Textual Analysis is in terms of a variety of mediums, or ‘texts’.
Put simply, textual analysis is the process by which we view a text (whether that be a film, image, newspaper, novel, or such), the context in which we view it, and the information that we are able to gather and interpret from it.
Textual analysis is often dependent on context, and the way that context is divided is into connotation (the implied meaning of a text) and denotation (the literal meaning of a text).
Analysing a text is the foundation of understanding and comprehending it’s meaning. Texts are generally representations of reality, so textual analysis doesn’t involve measuring how ‘real‘ a text is, but alternatively, we analyse how well it reflects reality and whether that is even the creator’s intention.
This is such an interesting aspect of media studies, because we are learning how and why we do something that has always come to us almost naturally. We are questioning why we question everything, and how we derive meaning from the answers we receive.