INTERTEXTUAL

ITY
 Beowulf is an interesting example of intertextuality
becaus e th e mon ster, Gren del , i s s a i d to b e a
descendant of the Biblical figure of Cain. The first
Beowulf poet would probably have assumed his reader
would have understood this allusion and, indeed, know
a great deal about the Bible stories. Our contemporary
reading of Beowulf is necessarily intertextual as well
because the original poem was written in Old English,
which is unintelligible to Modern English speakers.
 Most people today have seen Star Wars, but many
do not realize that it was intended to be an intertextual
work, based on the psychological theories of Joseph
Campbell. Campbell wrote a book called Hero With a
Thousand Faces, which describes a single, universal
form of hero-stories that appears in cultures all over
the world. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars,
wanted to explore this idea of the cross-cultural heroic
ideal in the character of Luke Skywalker.
 HARRY POTTER
VS
LORD OF THE RINGS
 TWILIGHT
VS
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
1. Which of the following statements is the
best intertextuality definition?
A. The relationship between texts.
B. Allusions from one text to another.
C. The translation of a text into a
different language.
B. Allusions from one text to another.
2. Which of the following would not be an
example of intertextuality?
A. A translation of one work into a different
language.
B. A poetic homage to an earlier writer by
adopting that writer’s theme and tone.
C. The main characters of two unrelated works
coincidentally both named Bob.
C is the correct answer. However, there can
certainly be intertextuality examples that are
based on names. If someone were to name
their protagonist Romeo, Pinocchio, or
Hercules the reader would not to able to
forget the link between the contemporary
character and the character from the past,
even if there were no other thematic ties.
3. Which of the following statements is not an
example of intertextuality in Tom Stoppard’s
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead?
A. Tom Stoppard used the same character names
as in Shakespeare’s original play.
B. The Disney movie The Lion King is also based
somewhat on Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
C. Parts of the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead are exact quotes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
B is the correct answer. Though it is a true
statement, the Disney film came after Tom
Stoppard’s play and therefore Stoppard could
not have been influenced by this film in his
writing.
ASSIGNMENT:

Think or
research
two movies,
literary
piece, anime