Factual Paratext, Author and Media. TV interviews by Roland Barthes and Primo Levi

When Gerard Genette discussed the interview as a secondary and accessory dimension of the text in his book, Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation, he claimed that the “use of the mediated paratext—a use inevitably destined to spread—will have to take into account” elements such as facial expressions and “non-verbal utterance.” The television interviews given by Roland Barthes (En toutes lettres, 1972) and by Primo Levi (Il mestiere di raccontare, 1974) offer an interesting extension or re-modulation of Genette’s concept of the epitext. Both authors perform their public role visually as well as verbally. Their attire and performances act as a “factual” paratext in the interviews to communicate messages concerning writer’s life, which are, in turn, visually coded to make statements about their work and how it is to be understood by readers.