Paratextual Thresholds in Algerian Short Fiction: A Semiotic and Aesthetic Inquiry into Fouzia Assasla "Amina in Evening Conversations"

Abstract

           This article investigates the poetics of paratextuality in Fouzia Assasla short story “Amina in Evening Conversations”, drawing on Gérard Genette’s theory of paratexts as a semiotic framework for textual mediation. The study conceptualizes paratextual elements as operative thresholds that regulate the conditions of textual legibility and produce meaning prior to and alongside the narrative proper.

The analysis distinguishes between peritext and epitext as analytically productive categories. The peritext comprises the author’s name, title, dedication, and introductory material, functioning as a structured semiotic apparatus that orients interpretive activity and constructs a horizon of expectation for the reader. The epitext, manifested through the cover image and the publishing institution, is approached as an external yet functionally operative discursive layer that contributes to the framing of textual reception and the activation of interpretive protocols.

This article examines the poetics of paratextual thresholds in the short story “Amina in Evening Conversations,” with a particular focus on the peritext and epitext according to Gérard Genette’s theoretical framework. Both categories are approached as semantic keys that reveal the author’s vision and the underlying structure of the text.

The peritext includes the author’s name, the title, the dedication, and the introduction, which collectively form a symbolic system that guides the reading process and orients interpretive activity. The epitext, on the other hand, is represented by the accompanying image and the publishing house, functioning as an interpretive gateway that decodes the author’s implicit intentions and facilitates the reader’s comprehension of the primary text.

The study concludes that the author transforms paratextual thresholds into organic and constitutive elements of the narrative experience. These thresholds deepen the fictional experience, prepare the reader both psychologically and cognitively, shape their horizon of expectation, and enable access to latent layers of meaning.