Monday, July 1, 2019
Question 3
Everything that has a plot (including movies, books, poems, plays, essays, etc.) is connected, creating “intertextuality” (Foster 197). Stories are derived from one another in order to make connections, to create a deeper reading experience. Each time someone reads a new story, they gain more knowledge, and this knowledge can then help them understand the next plot they see. When one reads the traditional Romeo and Juliet they understand the concept of forbidden love, fighting against expectations, and tragic conclusions, so when they see these ideas in other tales the reader is able to extract a more definitive meaning about how the two works are similar and what this means for the different stories, hence why intertextuality is an important process while reading. Then, when one grasps the notion that the two texts are related, it engraves the idea that maybe more works can be connected, as Foster puts it, part of “one big story” (28). Sometimes this mengling of texts can be purposeful, because the author wants the reader to draw conclusions about the similarities between the works, so they will have a better understanding of the character, plot, or whatever is being compared. Other times, the association is by chance; every time someone reads something new they gain knowledge, and authors then apply this knowledge in their own work, even if they are unaware of their actions. As for symbols and archetypes, these can also act as a way for texts to mingle; there are some symbols and archetypes that can be understood everywhere (i.e. the heart always represents love), making them able to transcend texts. As for intertextuality in the “real” world, an example could be when one refers to their friend as having Goldilocks hair, giving the impression that it is blonde. Another example could be when someone says they want a Cinderella wedding, associating the idea of a spectacular wedding like the fairytale. All of these references that occur, going from one book to another, including symbols and archetypes, can be put on the “mythic level” (Foster 200), a place that stores classic ideas for readers and writers to pull from (in order to further creative thinking), where their beginnings are unknown.
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I like how you really focus on intertextuality and symbols in your post, it made me think of all the symbols I see or think of in a day and how they have been tweaked over time between different authors and styles. I also agree with the fact that authors use certain texts to connect with his or her audience on a more advanced level, creating symbols and ideas from specific texts with those who have a deeper grasp of the concept. We also have a similar view and analogy of the mystic level and how it is a sort of “storage bin” for the ideas, symbols, and concepts that do not have a specific story from where they originate.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the real world connections you chose. They are both great examples because they have really stood the test of time. I find them interesting because they are both stories that have been around for hundreds of years but they have both been re purposed to fit into modern life. This really shows how intertextuality has the ability to span many different books and also has the ability to make lasting impacts on society. Cinderella in particular is a story that has evolved from its original form and the meaning of a Cinderella wedding in today’s context is probably much different from a Cinderella wedding when the story was first put too paper.
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