Método TCI

LAIS 309 Otoño 2018
Metodología TCI
TCI (Texto/Contexto/Interpretación)

1. Text

Writer/director/artist/creator:

Pertinent biographical information about the writer/director/artist/creator (e.g., birthplace, education, political affiliation/s, identity markers such as “feminist,” “conservative,” etc.):

Name of text:

Publication date of the text (careful with this one: ask yourself, “Is the publication date different from date/s it was written, performed, staged, etc.? Was the text in question censored? Is it still censored? If so, why and why might this be important?):

Where was text published/exhibited?: 

Why (explicit purpose)?: 

Genre (e.g., poetry, prose, drama/performance, exhibition, etc.?): 

Subgenre (e.g., if prose, is it a novel, a short story, a memoir, etc.?): 

Formal characteristics/qualities of text (e.g., metaphors, symbols, tone, themes, etc.):

2. Context

Cultural/historical context (What was happening at that moment locally and in the overall context of the Western world)?:

What are the characteristics of the major spheres of influence during this cultural/historical period?:

Understood in relation to context, is there an implicit purpose beyond the text’s stated explicit purpose? (Though dated, sorry, the video linked above makes evident the extent to which the explicit purpose, “I’m not in love,” cannot be taken at face value; the lyrics and instrumental composition belie the explicit purpose. “Irony” is a literary technique that is often associated with this contradiction between what is said versus what is meant):

How are the text’s formal qualities (e.g., themes, topics, metaphors, symbols, tone, etc.) conditioned by its context?:

3. Interpretation

Based on T + C, how does the text = I? That is, what does the work “mean” in relation to the text’s formal and situational qualities when its context is considered (i.e., What is your interpretation and how did you arrive at such an interpretation?):

What evidence do we have that can account for this interpretation?: