Between linguistics and literary sciences: textuality revisited

The present article takes the concept of textuality and textualization - as it was introduced in the beginning of textlinguistics as a subdiscipline of linguistics in the early 70s - as a starting point for discussing the relationship between linguistics and literature. Textuality is developed in a threefold way: There are textualization devices which can be related to different characteristics of textualization. Textualization devices themselves depend on different textualization resources: the situation of reading, the language of the text and the context of reading. Textualization devices can, therefore, draw upon perception, language and knowledge as different textualization resources. It is argued that textualization has to be traced back to textualization devices at the surface level of the text. This concept is illustrated by an empirical analysis of vacation picture postcards in order to demonstrate in an exemplary fashion the reconstruction of textualization devices. It is additionally shown that textualization devices can be seen as a fruitful intersection between linguistics and literature. Focusing on a text by G. Perec it is argued that both linguists and poets share an interest in textualization devices: while the linguistic interest in textualization devices is a cold and analytical one aiming at the improvement of knowledge, the poetic interest is a practial and sensual one aiming at the reader's entertainment.