intertextuality

Intertextuality is a theoretical framework in literary and cultural studies that contends a text does not possess a fixed, self-contained meaning. Instead, its interpretation arises from its relations to other texts, genres, conventions, and discourses. A text may quote exactly, allude to, imitate, transform, or remix earlier works, creating a network of references that shape how readers understand it.

The term was popularized by Julia Kristeva in the 1960s, drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s ideas of dialogism and the social nature of language. Kristeva argued that any utterance is a composite, produced within a web of textual and social interactions. Intertexts can be explicit, such as direct quotations, or implicit, appearing as echoes, motifs, or stylistic echoes that require reader recognition for full meaning.

Intertextual practices include quotation, allusion, pastiche, parody, homage, and transformation. They occur across media, from novels and poetry to film, television, music, and advertising. Examples often cited include Shakespearean echoes in contemporary fiction, the reuse of genres across films, and the way modern novels engage with canonical texts to contest or reinterpret them.

In analysis, intertextuality offers tools for reading how meanings are constructed through cultural memory, genre expectations, and stylistic conventions. It emphasizes how texts participate in broader conversations and how readers bring prior knowledge to interpretation. Critics note that the approach can risk over-reading connections or neglect genuine originality, and that not all texts rely on intertextual cues. Nonetheless, intertextuality remains a influential lens for examining how texts constantly reference, revise, and dialogue with one another.