Chapter 3: Texts and Intertextuality
3.1 Introduction: the Greats Escape
In any large city, you’ll find testaments to the ‘greats’ of literature, such as statues & street
names, these represent a period in which culture was primarily approached in terms of
outstanding individuals
In the second half of the 20th century, critics began to question the biographical approach, as
the marginalisation of women writers & authors from the global south began to be
questioned as well
Literary texts should be viewed as the unique products of individual authors & every text is
informed by the texts that came before it, and people make connections to those texts in
order to make sense of what they are reading
3.2 Texts
3.2.1 Words, Material Carrier, Aesthetic Object
A text is a unique collection of words that are seen as belonging together, thus creating the
expectation of their yielding a coherent meaning
No combination of words is ever separate from its material embodiment
Different material embodiments can lead to different interpretations of a text
Secondary orality: a reshaped orality that operates in a literate society where texts are
omnipresent be this in print or in digital form
3.2.2 Paratext
Paratext is an umbrella term for those bits of information that appear ‘alongside’ the
author’s text when it is presented in book form
o Jacket text, cover, publication details, foreword, footnotes, illustrations, etc.’
Writers who know their work will appear in book form sometimes produce forewords &
footnotes as an integral part of their writing
3.3 Intertextuality: the Relationship Between Texts
3.3.1 The Conventionality of Language
Language is used for communication by groups & the individuals entering them inherit a
language that has evolved over a very long period of time
Concepts of authorship are intertwined with ideas about individual subjects & what they can
achieve as individuals or as members of a group
Conventionality of language: the idea that language is based on conventions and traditions
3.3.2 The Conventionality of Texts
Authors are bound by the rules of the language system in which they work – though they
may decide to resist them
The history of poetry shows the evolution of a huge variety of sometimes very complex
forms
Aesthetics of identity vs. aesthetics of opposition
Today’s artists are producing new forms of expression through creatively reworking the
legacy of their predecessors in ways that seem to transcend the dichotomy between
‘identity’ and ‘opposition’
3.3.3 Intertextual Relationships
Intertextuality refers to the way that texts relate both overtly and implicitly to each other &
absorb the meaning & impact of earlier works in a continuous reworking of their legacy
Different forms of intertextual citation: allusion, creative retelling, pastiche, parody, etc.
3.1 Introduction: the Greats Escape
In any large city, you’ll find testaments to the ‘greats’ of literature, such as statues & street
names, these represent a period in which culture was primarily approached in terms of
outstanding individuals
In the second half of the 20th century, critics began to question the biographical approach, as
the marginalisation of women writers & authors from the global south began to be
questioned as well
Literary texts should be viewed as the unique products of individual authors & every text is
informed by the texts that came before it, and people make connections to those texts in
order to make sense of what they are reading
3.2 Texts
3.2.1 Words, Material Carrier, Aesthetic Object
A text is a unique collection of words that are seen as belonging together, thus creating the
expectation of their yielding a coherent meaning
No combination of words is ever separate from its material embodiment
Different material embodiments can lead to different interpretations of a text
Secondary orality: a reshaped orality that operates in a literate society where texts are
omnipresent be this in print or in digital form
3.2.2 Paratext
Paratext is an umbrella term for those bits of information that appear ‘alongside’ the
author’s text when it is presented in book form
o Jacket text, cover, publication details, foreword, footnotes, illustrations, etc.’
Writers who know their work will appear in book form sometimes produce forewords &
footnotes as an integral part of their writing
3.3 Intertextuality: the Relationship Between Texts
3.3.1 The Conventionality of Language
Language is used for communication by groups & the individuals entering them inherit a
language that has evolved over a very long period of time
Concepts of authorship are intertwined with ideas about individual subjects & what they can
achieve as individuals or as members of a group
Conventionality of language: the idea that language is based on conventions and traditions
3.3.2 The Conventionality of Texts
Authors are bound by the rules of the language system in which they work – though they
may decide to resist them
The history of poetry shows the evolution of a huge variety of sometimes very complex
forms
Aesthetics of identity vs. aesthetics of opposition
Today’s artists are producing new forms of expression through creatively reworking the
legacy of their predecessors in ways that seem to transcend the dichotomy between
‘identity’ and ‘opposition’
3.3.3 Intertextual Relationships
Intertextuality refers to the way that texts relate both overtly and implicitly to each other &
absorb the meaning & impact of earlier works in a continuous reworking of their legacy
Different forms of intertextual citation: allusion, creative retelling, pastiche, parody, etc.
