THE NOTION OF INTERTEXTUALITY

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is represented through the analysis of the genesis, nature and function of the process of intertextuality. The analysis is going in two directions: 1) in the diachronic dimension – it ranges from the first theories of intertextuality to the poetics of postmodernism; 2) in the synchronic dimension – it includes multi-layered communication among the author, reader (co-author) and text exposed to the incessant semantic metamorphosis. A broader perception of intertextuality is observed in this context, and according to this perception – each text represents an intertext; the narrower conception is also included within our observation, and the conception itself precisely defines the creation of intertextual relations by means of ’signals’ given throughout the text, in terms of an explicit or implicit reference to another text in a dialogue with the reader. Therefore, while the broader conception of intertextuality is more appropriate for a description of the general paradigm, the narrower conception of intertextuality has a more precise function within the analysis of the concrete intertextual aspects in a literary work of art.