Blog Post II

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Intertextuality is the relationship between texts, especially literary ones.

Three examples of this are obligatory, optional and accidental.

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Obligatory intertextuality is when a reference is made that is important to the text. If the audience does not 'get' the reference, then the meaning of the text is lost, and therefore cannot be understood fully.

Optional intertextuality is when the author is paying homage to another text and so the recognition of the allusion is not vital or important to the text.

Accidental intertextuality relies on the audience to make connections between two texts that were not intended by the author.

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The first picture is a scene from Iggy Azalea's music video of her 2014 song, Fancy. In her music video, she references the 1995 movie, Clueless. Clueless follows a high school girl named Cher, who is heavily implied to be the most popular girl in school. Azalea dresses like Cher to encourage the audience to see her a very popular and desirable, just as Cher was seen as. While this reference is semi-important, not knowing the reference doesn't detract from the song's meaning. Therefore, this intertextuality is optional.

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This scene from The Simpsons references a painting created by artist Edvard Munch in 1893. This reference is important to understand because it displays the terror and hopelessness Homer feels in this moment; this emotion is exactly what Edvard Munch had in mind when he painted The Scream in 1893. He describes creating the painting with the feeling of letting go in mind, which can allude to Homer 'letting himself go'. Knowing this reference is key to understanding the meaning behind it, therefore it is obligatory intertextuality.

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This picture from The Simpsons references the very popular cartoons show, Looney Toons. More specifically, however, it references the characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, both of which are very recognizable characters within the series. In the series, Wile E. Coyote attempts to catch the Road Runner and presumably eat him; however, he is never able to catch up to him due to some cartoonish failure. In The Simpsons, Homer chases Bart in a similar fashion to Wile E. Coyote chases the Road Runner. Additionally, like the Road Runner, Bart is never caught up to and always gets away from Homer. This reference is important to understand the humor, and is therefore obligatory intertextuality.

- M