Drama as an Intermedial Text A Systematic Exploration of the Function of the Stage Directions

Literature studies have neglected what Roman Ingarden has termed the Nebentext/secondary text (stage directions and textual apparatus), resulting in blind spots in the theory of drama. These concern primarily the character of drama as a double mediality consisting of text and performance. This paper explains the various contributions of the Nebentext as a reading text within the drama. It considers the media implications of the Nebentext and works towards systematically including it in the genre theory of drama. Focusing on the Nebentext highlights that drama is a genre that's not characterized by dialogue (Haupttext/main text) alone. Instead, it is defined by 1) the double textuality, 2) the intermedial relation to the performance, 3) an elaborated typography, 4) narrativity, 5) a system of external communication, that speaks to the reader as an imaginary viewer and thereby 6) keeps the eyes and ears in the picture.