Intertextuality: Meaning of Life and Silk Cut Essay

What is inter text editionual matteruality? How does intertextuality scrap E. D. Hirschs mood that a text has a single centre formd by its motive? Explain with reference to examples drawn from any media format. tally to American literary critic, E. D. Hirsch, in order to interpret a proboscis of text, one must ask ones self the hardly question that can be answered objectively ? what, in all probability, did the indite mean to convey? He believed that the beginnings intended subject matter equates the meaning of a text and it is in fact, the commentators art to uncover the the authors intentions.The meaning of a text and its authors intentions atomic number 18 one and the same. Hirschs concept revolves around the hypothesis that a body of text is original, and is purely a body of the authors sole intentions. The production of text, if one were to adhere to Hirschs theory, is therefrom exclusive to the authors consume ideas and concepts and free of external influe nce. However, the notions of langue and intelligence disputes this idea. According to Barthes in 1984, It la langue is the social part of language, the individual cannot himself either create or modify it.Furthermore, Ferdinand de Saussures work on structural anthropology and semiotics demonstrates the subjectivity of language and can be said to learn sewn the seeds for modern concepts of intertextuality ( much(prenominal) as those developed by Roland Barthes and Julia Kristeva). Intertextuality challenges the idea of a texts ability to be truly original and therefrom disagrees with Hirschs theory. In this essay, I go forth focus on how certain intertextuality as well as the semiotics involved in un assured mind intertextuality both dispute the idea that the meaning of a text belongs just to its authors intentions.Julia Kristeva, who was the first to usage the term intertextuality, proposed the idea that a text should not be interpreted merely by its dustup at face value, but also studied establish on former(a) works it has adapted and was influenced by. The concept can be further expanded upon by Gunther Kress notion of ceaseless semiosis which brings to light the social smell of a texts creation. From the beginning, I use materials which I imbibe encountered before, which bear the meanings of their social contexts, to weave a new text which, because it is weave from materials of other texts, everywhere and always connects with those other texts. -Kress, 2000 Conscious intertextuality therefore enables a lector to participate in this ceaseless semiosis by the identification and finishing of their prior knowledge to a text, along with creating their own version of the text by combining their be knowledge gleaned from other texts with the works of others a text is based on (e. g. someone watching a satiric television show such as The Simpsons). The best example of this strain of intertextuality would be the process of a contributor (or surfe r) browsing the world immense web. Here, an author cannot control the way in which a endorser approaches his or her body of text.There is seldom a linear fashion in which a reader consumes information while surfboarding the lucre. It is common for him or her to absorb scarcely small chunks of texts on one page of a web land site before being led to an entirely different webpage via think. Through surfing and following links of their choice, readers effectively thus begin to construct their own text of sorts as they make their way finished various sites on the internet. Unlike newspapers or most other forms of printed media, intertextuality on the internet is a lot one of a blatant and conscious nature.Here, almost more so than anywhere else, it is clear that content is not entirely original, nor is it based on an authors sole ideas and concepts. It is common for a great some websites to host a multitude of links, and consist of short articles that link to other sources of in formation that the work was based on, or that provide further elaboration. stock-still on the internet, certain etiquettes are oftentimes observed, one of them being the ingenuity of giving recognize where it is due. A graphic or chip of digital art someone uses on his or her website, for example, often requires credit and a link back to the page of the creative person that created it.Upon following the link to the artists page, one mogul find further credit and a link to the photographer who provided the stock photograph from which the graphic was created. One and so clicks on the link that leads us to a page of stock photography, on which, perhaps, yet another link to the homepage of the model in the photograph might be provided. One visits the aforementioned homepage, and might perhaps chance upon the annals of the model or a little story ab forth(predicate) his or her life.The initial graphic no longer stands on its own, and new storey and meaning is produced with eve ry link the surfer clicks, tracing a driveway that paints a story beyond the original piece of art. Hirschs idea of a text having one sole meaning ? that of the authors ? no longer applies. The readers construct their own text, and therefore their own meanings as they navigate through the internet, often with no apparent logical progression. The existing knowledge they possess, along with their ability to identify the other works a text is based on, shapes their interpretation of an idea being presented.Even the authors themselves often acknowledge the lack of comp permite originality in their content, and through links and credit on their page, make it obvious that their text is a coalition of ideas and texts by other authors, whose texts are a coalition of ideas and texts by yet, other authors and so on There are also varying degrees of intertextuality on the internet. Some sites, such as The Onion (www. theonion. com) restricts the direct of interactivity on their website by l imiting links to only those of their advertisers.However, the content of their site is a testament of classic conscious intertextuality. Much like the Simpsons, The Onion is a satire. It parodies legitimate news websites and orbiculate current affairs. Readers prior knowledge of these affects the way in which they view the site and interpret these satirical issues of The Onion. A webpage that allows for a greater level of interactivity through its onslaught of links is How To Dress Emo (http//www. geocities. com/howtodressemo).A site that makes fun of a teenage trend in todays society, the text has dominance to be humorous to its reader. However, the degree of appreciation and humour a reader might find in the text depends on the level of the readers prior knowledge of the Emo trend and sub-culture. Unlike The Onion however, the flannel text on How To Dress Emo is peppered with phrases and words that are grey in colour. Existing knowledge of the internet and html might inform the reader that these grey words and phrases are in fact links, and clicking on them will lead them to further sites, games, generators and articles that provide further references and elaborate upon the original article.The internet has made it possible for authors to quote another piece of work wholesale by simply and conveniently placing a link on their page. The deuce texts give out inevitably intertwined and new meaning is generated as the reader pieces unitedly information gleaned from both works. Another form of intertextuality is one that is often based on a more unconscious level. Arguing against the idea that a text is an isolated entity, Kristeva once stated, any text is the absorption and duty period of another.The text in question is not limited to only that which is literary in nature, and whatever form it should take is subject to its readers or hearings interpretation based on their knowledge of other existing texts, their cultural literacy and connexions they in dividually produce. In subconscious intertextuality, interpretation is based on a highly individual level and may even produce meanings that the author had no knowledge of whatsoever, let alone intended. However, a study of subconscious intertextuality and semiotics is often utilizable to advertisers who then use these subtle allusions to maximum effect.The reader or audience is often unaware of the subconscious effects an advertisement has on their scholarship of a product. Nevertheless, through signs in commercials and print advertisements, the meanings an advertiser wishes to convey about a product are presented. Silk cartroad cigarettes in England demonstrates clever ad in their campaigns. Strict laws and restrictions are imposed on tobacco advertisements in the country, forbidding any association of sports, glamour, success, luxury, masculinity and femininity with tobacco products.Targetting a tobacco advertisement towards a certain market or denomination in society was al so banned. Silk cut, however, has managed to get around such squiffy laws by the use of semiotics, thus showcasing intertextuality and the ability to generate multiple meanings out of a single text. In one of their most striking advertisements in the 90s, magazine advertorials often have a proud crafty sheet with a single oval slit in the middle.The connotations were luxurious, inner and feminine, yet in a way that was subtle and did not bollocks the advertising code for tobacco. On one hand, one could explain the text as being simply representative of a ruined piece of cloth ? no more, no less. Doubtlessly, this would have been Silk foreshortens business relationship had they been questioned by the law. However, on a more subconscious intertextual level, the colour purple and the expensive silken fabric could have been interpreted as an association with luxury and royalty.The texture of the cloth could also have been seen as an allusion to the sedate nature of a Silk Cut ci garette, therefore making the product kindly to women (despite the fact that targeting a specific gender or market was forbidden). The stroke slit in the cloth could be easily interpreted as sexual in nature, and representative of a womans genitalia, thus giving the cigarettes a suggestive appeal. Through these clever advertisements, Silk Cut became wide known as THE womans cigarette of choice. They were even featured in the bestselling novel, Bridget Joness Diary.In this book by Helen Fielding, the protagonist, Bridget, smokes Silk Cut. The bulls eye is constantly referred to throughout the novel, therefore once again making use of intertextuality. Bridget Jones spends a great deal of the book attempting to quit smoking. However, she is simply inefficient to curb her craving for the Silk Cut cigarettes. The qualities that have come to be associated with Silk Cut cigarettes through their advertising campaigns, can now be seen as the qualities Bridget desires by smoking Silk Cut .Once again, Hirschs idea of a text look only one singular meaning can be easily disputed. The interpretation of the Silk Cut advertisement, as well as the use of Silk Cut cigarettes in Bridget Joness Diary, is highly subjective and dependent on the readers cultural literacy and existing knowledge. Intertextuality in the media, both print and otherwise, has become too powerful to ignore, especially in this day and age. The internet, satirical texts, advertisements and books are only some examples that demonstrate the effects other works and a readers prior knowledge have on any given text.Intertextuality in its various states, conscious and unconscious, is certainly a legal contention against the theory of E. D. Hirsch. Bibliography, References & Notes 1) Cultural Consumption and Everyday Life, edition As Production, John Storey, Pg 63, Arnold, London, 1999 2) Intertextuality, Allen. G, Pg 9, Routledge, London 2000 3) http//web. uvic. ca 4) http//www. theonion. com 5) http//www. geocities. com/howtodressemo 6) http//www. aber. ac. uk 7) Reading Ads Socially. Goldman. R, Routledge, London, 1992.