INTERTEXTUALITY

• Intertextuality is the way in which texts refer to other media texts that producers assume that their target audiences will recognise. 
• One of pleasures that audiences experience is the joy of recognition. 
• One form of this pleasure comes in recognising the reference in one media text to other media texts. 
• This process of referencing is called intertextuality.

Intertextuality can be demonstrated in several ways in the media:

Pastiche and parody are both examples of INTERTEXTUALITY. Intertextuality is the defining of a work’s meaning through the understanding of other texts. Look at this example from the Simpsons. It’s meaning is made when you understand that it’s a reference to the film Silence of the Lambs.

The image of Monty in restraints links him to the mass murderer Hannibal Lecter. If you have the foreknowledge of Lecter then you can make the connection; Monty is evil. Intertextuality is like a short cut to meaning, it uses people’s understanding of media texts to make new meanings.

- Parody Taking the mickey out of different texts for example “scary movie”. Anything that takes itself too seriously is putting itself up for parody!

- Pastiche Recycling other media texts for example Kill Bill is a mixture of Japanese samurai, french new wave, Hong Kong kung fu. 

- Homage referencing other texts and people for example the remake of Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho in 1998.

- Mimicry Often this borrowing of a text to link it to a second one is stylistic. This means that a text will mimic or otherwise copy stylistic features of another text, for example Katy Perry’s ” The one that got away” music video.

- Marketing of media texts. Making reference to other texts and marketing them, for example when Jonathan Ross had Daniel Radcliffe and David Attenborough on his TV chatshow.

- Media performers working in more than one media form. (Cheryl Cole as a judge on The Xfactor. Cheryl Cole won a show similar to Xfactor).

Task:

• Analyse the following videos and make comparisons. 
• How would you categorise the different features of intertextuality? Pastiche or Parody? 
• Are there any other intertextual considerations? 
• Check out who directed this and what else did he directed?

 

  

Task2: Individually find a couple of additional texts that use intertextuality to position the audience and consider the relevant features. Start by investigating the genre of your own production.

Embed videos/images into your blog and write about them there.