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Taylor Swift’s song “Love Story” makes intertextual references to Romeo
and Juliet of William Shakespeare and The Scarlet Letter, novel by
Nathaniel Hawthorne.
“Cause you were Romeo, and I was scarlet letter
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet”
......
“And said: “Marry me Juliet
You’ll never have to be alone
I love you and that’s all I really know
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress
It’s a love story baby just say yes”
"Shot me out of the sky, you're my kryptonite, you keep making
me weak yeah frozen and can't speak."
– “One Thing” by ONE DIRECTION
intertext
RHEAROSE Q. CONDE
Identify the context in which a text was
developed (EN11/12RWS-IVac-7)
b. Intertext (EN11/12RWS-IVac-7.2)
INTERTEXT
• As defined by Michael Riffaterre (2010), intertextuality
“depends on [a system of] limitations in our freedom of
choice, of choice, of exclusions, since it is by renouncing
incompatible associations within the text that we come to
identify in the intertext their compatible counterparts.”
• He further states that this intertextuality is the complete
opposite of hypertextuality because the former builds a
“structured network” of limits that will keep the reader on
track (towards the “correct” interpretation), the latter is a
“loose web of free association”.
• Intertextual figures
ALLUSION
Is when an author directly or indirectly refers to an idea or
passage in another text without actually quoting the text.
Example:
It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at
all? My answer is an absolute yes.
Allusion to Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous quote “’Tis better
to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.
• Intertextual figures
ALLUSION
Example:
Perhaps the best way of understanding Kim’s psychology, however, is to
recognize that he is not bluffing in our sense of the word, largely derived
from the very Western game of poker. He is more like the boy who cried
wolf in Aesop’s fable. The boy was not really buffing; he was making up
a threat that would alarm the adults and send them into an uproar.
Author Lee Haris making an allusion to the boy who cried wolf in Aesop’s
fable in an article for the website of the American Enterprise Institute
• Intertextual figures
ALLUSION
Example:
• “An eye for an eye” makes the whole world round.
• He was lying so obviously, you could almost see his nose
growing.
• He's asking her to the prom. It's like a happy version of
Romeo and Juliet.
• It's hard being an adult! Peter Pan had the right idea.
• Intertextual figures
QUOTATION
The author directly lifts a string of words from another text.
Example:
As Nelson Mandela says, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you
can use to change the world." Education is the key to eliminating gender
inequality, to reducing poverty, to creating sustainable planet, preventing
needless deaths and illness, and to fostering peace. And in knowledge
economy, education is the new currency by which nations maintain economy
competitiveness and global prosperity.
U.S Secretary of Education Arne Duncan quoting Nelson Mandela in an article for USAID.
• Intertextual figures
CALQUE
Is a word-for-word barrowing from one language to another.
Example:
• Cognito ergo sum [Latin] – (I) think, therefore (I) exist [English]
• Ad hominem [Latin] – to (the) man [English]
• Id est (i.e) [Latin] – that is [English]
• Break the silence [English] – Basagin and katahimikan [Tagalog]
• Vers libre [French] – free verse [English]
• Point de vue [French] – Point of view [English]
• Intertextual figures
TRANSLATION
Example:
TYPES OF INTERTEXTUALITY:
Intertextuality have different types. These are: Accidental,
Obligatory and Optional.
1. Accidental intertextuality is when readers often
connect a text with another text, cultural practice or a
personal experience, without there being any tangible
anchor point within the original text (John Fitzsimmons).
The writer has no intention of making an intertextual
reference and it is completely upon the reader’s own prior
knowledge that these connections are made (Wöhrle,
2012).
TYPES OF INTERTEXTUALITY:
Intertextuality have different types. These are: Accidental, Obligatory
and Optional.
1. Accidental intertextuality EXAMPLE:
Often when reading a book or viewing a film a memory will be triggered
in the viewers’ mind. For example, when reading Herman Melville’s
‘Moby Dick’, a reader may use their prior experiences to make a
connection between the size of the whale and the size of the ship.
Another reader could draw deep connections to the Bibilcal allegory
Jonah and the Whale, simply from the mention of a man and a whale.
Whilst it was not Melville’s intention to create these links, the readers
have made these connections themselves.
TYPES OF INTERTEXTUALITY:
Intertextuality have different types. These are: Accidental, Obligatory and Optional.
2. Obligatory intertextuality is when the writer deliberately invokes a comparison or
association between two (or more) texts. In this type, you have to have an understanding of
a prior hypotext before you can compare and contrast it with its subsequent piece of work.
EXAMPLE:
To understand the specific context and characterisation within Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead’, one must first be familiar with Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ (Mitchell,
n.d.). It is in Hamlet we first meet these characters as minor characters and, as the
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern plot unravels, specific scenes from Hamlet are actually
performed and viewed from a different perspective. This understanding of the hypotext
Hamlet, gives deeper meaning to the pretext as many of the implicit themes from
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are more recognisable in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Comhrink,
n.d.).
TYPES OF INTERTEXTUALITY:
Intertextuality have different types. These are: Accidental, Obligatory and
Optional.
3. Optional intertextuality- It is a possible, but not essential,
intertextual relationship that if recognized, the connection will slightly shift
the understanding of the text (Fitzsimmons, 2013). Optional Intertextuality
means it is possible to find a connection to multiple texts of a single phrase,
or no connection at all (Ivanic, 1998). It expresses the intention of the
writer in paying homage to the ‘original’ writers, or rewarding those who
have read the hypotext. The use of optional intertextuality may be
something as simple as parallel characters or plotlines.
TYPES OF INTERTEXTUALITY:
Intertextuality have different types. These are: Accidental, Obligatory and
Optional.
3. Optional intertextuality Example:
The use of optional intertextuality may be something as simple as parallel
characters or plotlines. For example, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series shares
many similarities J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. They both apply the
use of an aging wizard mentor (Professor Dumbledore and Gandalf) and a key
friendship group is formed to assist the protagonist (an innocent young boy) on
their arduous quest to defeat a powerful wizard and to destroy a powerful
being (Keller, 2013). This connection is interesting and J.K. Rowling was most
likely influenced by other fictional and fantasy novels. However, this link is not
vital to the understanding of the Harry Potter novels.
