Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the shaping of a texts meaning by another text.

The three types of intertextuality are explicit, implicit and accidental.

1. Explicit intertextuality: when the writer purposely makes a connection between two texts. If the reader does not understand this connection, they may not fully understand the text.

2. Implicit intertextuality: a connection to another text that is less noticeable. If this connection is recognized, the reader may have a better understanding of the text. However, if the connection is not recognized, the meaning behind the text will not be effected.

3. Accidental intertextuality: an unintended connection the reader makes to other texts, media, memory, etc. There is no intended relation by the other to the connections each individual reader makes.

Example 1: The movie "Tangled" was about a girl named Rapunzel who met a boy named Flynn Rider after years of being trapped in a castle. They ended up falling in love and traveling the world together. In the movie "Frozen," Rapunzel and Flynn appeared in a coronation scene. Since Elsa has been trapped in a castle her whole life as well, the intended connection may be that "Frozen" may have a similar ending to "Tangled."

Example 2: In “Frozen,” Princess Anna meets who she thought would be her love, Prince Hans. It turns out he was only trying to gain control over Arendelle. In “Big Hero 6,” there is a wanted poster for Hans in the police station. This connects the two films and gives subtle hints on what Hans is up to now. Someone watching the movie may have noticed the poster and made a conclusion that Hans has stayed a criminal.

Example 3: In the Simpsons, intertextuality is very commonly used. In this example, a scene from the "Spiderman" movie was recreated.