Ivan's pregnant.

But enough about that, it's Intertextuality time!

Intertextuality, from the Latin intertexto, meaning to intermingle while weaving is the concept that all texts are linked to each other. The concept was first expressed by the Russian philosopher and scholar, Mikhail Bakhtin but the term itself was coined by the French writer, Julia Kristeva in response to his work. She claimed that “every text fashions itself as a mosaic of quotations, every text absorbs and transforms another text”. 

Graham Allen argues that originality is a myth: 

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. 

However some texts do directly allude to each other such as remakes and sequels. These are examples of self-conscious intertextuality which is intended by the producer. Unconscious intertextuality on the other hand is beyond the producer’s control and is not intended but thought of by the viewer. This is considered to be true intertextuality and is a very subjective, personal set of echoes.

Daniel Chandler states that “confounding the realist agenda that 'art imitates life,' intertextuality suggests that art imitates art.” The examples we watched in the lecture certainly prove this.  Tim Burton's 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes (1968) features self-conscious intertextuality when it has Charlton Heston once again (but this time in quite the opposite role of an elder ape) saying his famous line: "Damn them! Damn them all to hell!" A very witty use of intertextuality there from the beautiful Mr Burton and he's not the only one. DreamWorks and Disney are particularly good at, providing  in-jokes for the parents and adults to enjoy at a more subtle and sophisticated level as well as the obvious humour and storyline for the children. Madagascar's more child friendly “Darn them all to heck” reference to the famous “Damn them all to hell!” quote from Planet of the Apes is a prime example of this.

In our seminar we explored this further focussing on vampires yey! We started by watching some of the original vampire film,  Nosferatu (1922), which is basically a film version of Bram Stoker's Dracula  under a different name to try and avoid (though this failed) to a law suit. The 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre is pretty much a scene for scene remake in parts. The Vampire in in both films is portrayed in exactly the same way as a vermin-like creature resembling a giant, fanged phallus with the mannerisms of a groping, panting serial rapist. Shadow is also used extensively in the films.The famous scene from the original features Count Orlok’s shadow ascending the staircase, claws stretching out grotesquely towards the door while this awesome creepy scene is not present in the 1979 version it instead has the Count emerging eerily from the shadows on top of the helpless and rather horny looking maiden lying in bed. This use of shadows is taken even further in Dracula (1992) in which the Count's shadow literally has a life and character of it's own. This movie also borrows from other vampire film's as Gary Oldman's Count is more like Bela Lugosi’s suave, sophisticated vampire than a ratty, rapey phallus. All other vampire stories from films such as The Lost Boys (1987), From Dusk Til Dawn (1996), and Underworld (2003) to TV shows like True Blood and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Anne Rice's novels and even Twilight borrow aspects from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) and hundreds of years of European folklore before that.