Writing Help 129 | - ☆ Freelance Writer
Apr 06, 2013 | #1
Terms You Need for Writing about the Novel
Intertextuality is on that short but frustrating list of terms that appears far too frequently in advanced discourse, and hardly (if at all) in popular discourse and introductory courses. In literary studies, intertextuality has been a buzzword since at least the 1970s, and has remained in high use through the length of its life. However, it has not enjoyed the same fate in regular discourse, and even my spellchecker, which recognizes much newer words like Internet (reminding me to capitalize) and modem, has no idea what it is and cannot even offer me alternatives. So, though I will be rehashing a stale argument in literary circles, by briefly exploring what intertextuality is, I will be doing most audiences a valuable service.
Intertextuality is a concept in literary studies which expresses the relations between texts, conceived in the broadest possible manner. The term was coined in association with such theoretical designations as deconstruction, post-structuralism, and post-modernism, as a way of describing how discourse, or the sum total of utterances active in the social consciousness at any given time, informs and is simultaneously informed by all of its individual productions.
Of course, although I believe this definition captures what intertextuality is fairly well considering its brevity, I will admit that it is complicated and a touch too abstract to be of practical significance to many. In order to bring the analysis of intertextuality to your own work, it might be most useful to see an example of how this can be achieved with reference to a modern work, namely, one of my personal favorites, The Simpsons. In this particular episode, a cartoon-within-the-cartoon opens the show, and Itchy and Scratchy, a mouse and cat respectively, attempt to violently subdue each other for the better part of 30 seconds. Even before this, however, the Simpson family, Homer in the lead, make their way back home from their respective daily obligations, all converging on the couch of the family home. The family is dysfunctional to say the least, and the father Homer is an unintelligent oaf (though his heart is in the right place), married to the long-suffering Marge who is a genuinely good homemaker, and father to the mischievous Bart, the surprisingly intelligent social-activist Lisa, and the pre-verbal baby Maggie.
And that is where I will stop, because the individual episode is not even necessary to see where several intertextual convergences have already taken place. The opening return montage reminds us of previous cartoons like The Flintstones, and The Itchy and Scratchy Show shares many similar elements with Tom and Jerry, as well as the Roadrunner and Coyote of Loony Toons fame. The father, Homer, is a type created by characters such as All in the Family's Archie Bunker, and his son Bart, slingshot and mischief in hand, finds a forerunner in Dennis the Menace who stars in his own cartoon and comic strip. The Simpsons has been heralded as an innovative and unique show since its inception, and I would not contest this for a moment; however, we can see even from the evidence provided above that the fingerprints of both previous and current popular culture are all over every aspect of the show. This strikes to the core of intertextuality; texts are created not as distinct products of an individual creative mind, but rather as compilations gathered from the ocean of available material that circulates in the general consciousness.
Finally, it is important to remember that intertextuality is not parody, nor is it allusion, reference, or satire, though it may reflect each of these at times. It is a more general tendency of literature and literary works (like TV and film) to be interpenetrated by, and in turn to interpenetrate, the total system of culture that surrounds them.
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is on that short but frustrating list of terms that appears far too frequently in advanced discourse, and hardly (if at all) in popular discourse and introductory courses. In literary studies, intertextuality has been a buzzword since at least the 1970s, and has remained in high use through the length of its life. However, it has not enjoyed the same fate in regular discourse, and even my spellchecker, which recognizes much newer words like Internet (reminding me to capitalize) and modem, has no idea what it is and cannot even offer me alternatives. So, though I will be rehashing a stale argument in literary circles, by briefly exploring what intertextuality is, I will be doing most audiences a valuable service.
Intertextuality is a concept in literary studies which expresses the relations between texts, conceived in the broadest possible manner. The term was coined in association with such theoretical designations as deconstruction, post-structuralism, and post-modernism, as a way of describing how discourse, or the sum total of utterances active in the social consciousness at any given time, informs and is simultaneously informed by all of its individual productions.Of course, although I believe this definition captures what intertextuality is fairly well considering its brevity, I will admit that it is complicated and a touch too abstract to be of practical significance to many. In order to bring the analysis of intertextuality to your own work, it might be most useful to see an example of how this can be achieved with reference to a modern work, namely, one of my personal favorites, The Simpsons. In this particular episode, a cartoon-within-the-cartoon opens the show, and Itchy and Scratchy, a mouse and cat respectively, attempt to violently subdue each other for the better part of 30 seconds. Even before this, however, the Simpson family, Homer in the lead, make their way back home from their respective daily obligations, all converging on the couch of the family home. The family is dysfunctional to say the least, and the father Homer is an unintelligent oaf (though his heart is in the right place), married to the long-suffering Marge who is a genuinely good homemaker, and father to the mischievous Bart, the surprisingly intelligent social-activist Lisa, and the pre-verbal baby Maggie.
And that is where I will stop, because the individual episode is not even necessary to see where several intertextual convergences have already taken place. The opening return montage reminds us of previous cartoons like The Flintstones, and The Itchy and Scratchy Show shares many similar elements with Tom and Jerry, as well as the Roadrunner and Coyote of Loony Toons fame. The father, Homer, is a type created by characters such as All in the Family's Archie Bunker, and his son Bart, slingshot and mischief in hand, finds a forerunner in Dennis the Menace who stars in his own cartoon and comic strip. The Simpsons has been heralded as an innovative and unique show since its inception, and I would not contest this for a moment; however, we can see even from the evidence provided above that the fingerprints of both previous and current popular culture are all over every aspect of the show. This strikes to the core of intertextuality; texts are created not as distinct products of an individual creative mind, but rather as compilations gathered from the ocean of available material that circulates in the general consciousness.
Finally, it is important to remember that intertextuality is not parody, nor is it allusion, reference, or satire, though it may reflect each of these at times. It is a more general tendency of literature and literary works (like TV and film) to be interpenetrated by, and in turn to interpenetrate, the total system of culture that surrounds them.