Media Histories and Culture: INTERTEXTUALITY

Intertextuality is the act of Text (the 'subject') existing in more then one possible place whilst being a reference to the original (or in some instances this could be an inspiration from something). Examples could be a cameo in a TV show, the remake of a Film, the adaptation of a film into a game, literary reference, a painting, different interpretations of a character/idea.
These are all examples because there is an origin to the 'model' (the 'model' being the 'representation' of the subject in its new environment) or have been inspired as a result of viewing the 'subject' (designing an environment for a game after visiting an exotic location), this is a conclusion I came to after encountering a quote from a slide in the lecture;

‘The fundamental concept of intertextuality is that no text, much as it might like to appear so, is original and unique-in-itself; rather it is a tissue of inevitable, and to an extent unwitting, references to and quotations from other texts.’

- Graham Allen, ‘Intertextuality’

'Text', when describing intertextuality, could refer to a number of 'subjects' (dialog, imagery, costume, composition, meaning ect.) and is relevant within a variety of different mediums such as;

- Literary Culture; novels, poetry ect.

-Modern cultural artefacts; film, game, product design ect.

Another example of intertextuality is the way we know someone is a villain. For example here is Scar from the Lion King, you know that hes the bad guy because he has black fur, a negative expression and the scar also implies this a little, you would also know this whilst watching the film based on his voice and movements ect. (this is essentially semiotics again). The way we have recognised these things however is from previous encounters with other villains, we use this knowledge to make an assumption about Scar which males this a part of Intertextuality.

http://www.funnyvideos.net.au/images/scar21.jpg

Examples of intertextuality may be less effective when the viewer doesnt have a wide area of knowledge in certain fields (not knowing from which the 'model' is referenced). i.e.- you wouldnt find the new Marvel vs. Capcom (intertexuality in gaming) interesting if you didnt have previous knowledge of either series.

Examples of Intertextuality

FILM

The classic 1971 (left) Willy Wonker and its remake in 2005 (right).