Paratext oder paralleler Text?

Abstract

Abstract In intertextuality studies, libretto is generally regarded as a paratext on the fringes of the opera performance. However, the extension of Gérard Genette’s concept of paratextuality to this medium does not fully acknowledge its essential contribution to the production of meaning during the opera performance. Based on the definition of theatre performance as plurality of simultaneous sign systems and by the example of the libretti to Mozart’s operas edited at the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation, the essay proposes an alternative semiotic concept of libretto as parallel text. This means an optional sign system that generates aesthetic content parallel to the other sign systems of the opera. In the context of this new intertextual definition of libretto, the digital medium proves to be particularly suitable for a libretto edition that serves both scholarly and practical purposes.