Intertextuality

What is it?

It is referring to how each media text exists in relation to others. Texts are framed by other texts and (as many argue) are constructed more by their intertextuality than by their authors. It is the literal and effective presence in a text of another text.

No text is an isolated island.

Two interrelated texts:

We Real Cool Gwendolyn Brooks (1966)

We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.

   

The Wild Swans Skip School Andrew Hudgins (2001)

We beat wings. We fly rings. We scorn Yeats. We have mates. We won't stay. We fly 'way.

Starry Night Vincent van Gogh (1889)  

Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) Don McLean Starry, starry night Paint your palette blue and grey  Look out on a summer's day  With eyes that know the darkness in my soul 

Shadows on the hills  Sketch the trees and the daffodils  Catch the breeze and the winter chills  In colors on the snowy linen land 

Now I understand  What you tried to say to me  And how you suffered for your sanity  And how you tried to set them free  They would not listen, they did not know how  Perhaps they'll listen now 

Starry, starry night  Flaming flowers that brightly blaze  Swirling clouds and violet haze  Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue 

Colors changing hue  Morning fields of amber grain  Weathered faces lined in pain  Are soothed beneath the artists' loving hand 

Now I understand  What you tried to say to me  And how you suffered for your sanity  And how you tried to set them free  They would not listen, they did not know how  Perhaps they'll listen now 

For they could not love you  But still your love was true  And when no hope was left in sight On that starry, starry night  You took your life as lovers often do  But I could have told you Vincent  This world was never meant For one as beautiful as you 

Like the strangers that you've met  The ragged men in ragged clothes  The silver thorn and bloody rose  Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow 

Now I think I know  What you tried to say to me  And how you suffered for your sanity  And how you tried to set them free  They would not listen, they're not listening still  Perhaps they never will.

Some media texts make extremely obvious references to other media texts when encoding their messages…

For Example: Triumph Underwear

Look at this media text, it is an advert for underwear.

What other media text(s) is it framed by?

What message has Triumph encoded about their product by using Intertextuality?

Lara Croft and Intertextuality

Can you think of

any other advertisements that were framed by a reference to Lara Croft?

Lara Croft and Intertextuality

Why did the Lucozade want to use Intertextuality for their advertising campaign?

What message about their product were they encoding in their advert with this link?

Do you think it was a good idea? Why?

Not all examples of Intertextuality are between two completely different media forms, as in the example of the underwear advert and the film ‘Lara Croft’.

Some examples of Intertextuality are more subtle…

For Example: Silk Cut

The cigarette brand Silk Cut, was so well advertised that its advertising campaign was able to use intertextuality to ‘get around’ the law that cigarette companies were unable to:

“Be associated with glamour, sport, success in business, masculinity or femininity, and advertisers are not allowed to target individual groups of people.”

Silk Cut

In the late 80s and early 90s Silk Cut produced a series of surreal advertisements. The first of these was a sheet of purple silk with an oval slit cut diagonally in the middle of it. This advertisement and the following ones in the campaign show the power of intertextuality. In none of the advertisements are cigarettes or any tobacco products present, nor is the cigarette packet or the brand name. None of the advertisements have any text in order to anchor the meaning.

So how did they successfully advertise their product?

They used intertextuality; each advert was framed by, or was a reference to, another advert in the Silk Cut campaign. This was done through the use of purple silk…

Silk Cut

Why did it work?

Discuss in pairs, for two minutes why the use of intertextuality was a powerful way to advertise the cigarettes.

Can you think of any other advertising campaigns which uses intertextuality as a persuasive device?

Nescafe?

Popular TV shows

Most TV shows use Intertextuality in some shape or form in their content. It is very rare for a TV show to be completely original, just like it is difficult for a Film to have completely original content. However, Some shows rely openly on Intertextuality!

Can you recognise the Intertextual references that were made in the following…?

The Simpsons!

Why Intertextuality?

Why do you think The Simpsons use Intertextuality?

Do you think that this may have anything to do with the popularity of the program? If so why?

Do any other shows rely so heavily on Intertextuality?

Final Thought…

Does every Media text contain an example of Intertextuality?

For example, can Tomb Raider be a truly original film?

To what extent does Tomb Raider draw on previous representations of women action heroes such as Aliens(1979) and Trinity from The Matrix(1999)?