A '''commentary''' is a line-by-line or even [[word]]-by-word explication usually attached to an edition of a [[text]] in the same or an accompanying volume. It may draw on [[methodologies]] of close [[reading]] and [[literary criticism]], but its primary [[purpose]] is to elucidate the [[language]] of the text and the specific [[culture]] that produced it, both of which may be foreign to the reader. Such a commentary usually takes the form of footnotes, endnotes, or separate text cross-referenced by line, paragraph or page. | A '''commentary''' is a line-by-line or even [[word]]-by-word explication usually attached to an edition of a [[text]] in the same or an accompanying volume. It may draw on [[methodologies]] of close [[reading]] and [[literary criticism]], but its primary [[purpose]] is to elucidate the [[language]] of the text and the specific [[culture]] that produced it, both of which may be foreign to the reader. Such a commentary usually takes the form of footnotes, endnotes, or separate text cross-referenced by line, paragraph or page. |