A Personal Intertextuality

It's been decades since I studied and wrote any literary criticism, long enough ago that the term intertextuality, which was recently introduced to me by a friend, wasn't then taught in general literary criticism, at least as it's now defined.

"Intertextuality seems such a useful term because it foregrounds notions of relationality, interconnectedness and interdependence in modern cultural life. In the Postmodern epoch, theorists often claim, it is not possible any longer to speak of originality or the uniqueness of the artistic object, be it a painting or novel, since every artistic object is so clearly assembled from bits and pieces of already existent art." Graham Allen, Intertextuality. Routledge, 2000)

The idea, expressed by this term, had always been around: that works build from one another, inspire one another, and even capture elements of one another for use and reuse within a work.  Books retell plots, inspire characters, allude to themes, and shape their meanings in relation to other books, and have always been borne on the stacks of those works that took form before them.  The problems with intertextuality, of course, are that the writer can 'borrow' only so much of a work without openly plagiarizing and the reader must be informed enough to recognize the allusions in order to appreciate them for their interplay.

The idea of intertextuality raises the question of the role of coincidence. Why would a theme wind through the texts of two books published in the same year, when neither author had been aware of the other, of the influential texts that inspired the texts' genesis, or of a similar cultural concern? Does a confluence of ideas occur randomly? Or are social conditions such that similar themes arise to consciousness simultaneously, such as the rise of industrialization in the late 1800s and early 1900s which gave rise to the works of Lawrence and Sinclair?  If we accept as true Jung's conjecture that a collective unconscious exists, we could go further, to postulate that art springs from that shared soup.

Reading Choices and Intertextuality

But what of the interrelationships among the choices in what we read? Can't they influence not only what we read, but what we think, what we do, what life choices we make, even if they themselves might not share strict intertextuality?

Years ago, I would follow an idea or theme into a range of reading, since I had little money but had a library card. Stumbling across a book entitled How to Meditate by Lawrence LeShan* led me through years' worth of investigation on a variety of subjects, simply by following not only the books LeShan had written but also by reading the books he'd mentioned in the text or bibliographies. It led me to an investigation of other Christian denominations toward the varieties of religious experience, as James called it, as well as investigations into myth, the paranormal, the transpersonal persepective, and alternate realities. Following LeShan's books also brought me Cancer As a Turning Point, a book which I read after a diagnosis in my family.

This one man, whom I've never met, helped carve a path through a thicket of the unknown, into worlds I explored and began to know, intellectually, emotionally, and physically.  As a result of my experiments in meditation, using LeShan's directions, I meditated for a decade before seeking out a Vipassana meditation teacher and group meditation that plunged me into yet another intertextuality on the topic of meditation and its roots. Eventually I wrote up a short listmania bibliography on Amazon.com to aid in the selection of useful books on that topic.

Reading literature had the same impact on me in my younger years. Language, characters, plots, and themes led me to study literature and writing.  That circuitous path began with a family move in childhood, so far away from family and friends that loneliness opened up my elementary school library, a place where I discovered the biographies, childhood poetry, and popular fiction, all supported by a sympathetic librarian (an influence that motivated me to explore a career in library and information science decades later).  In middle school, I wrote historical fiction. In high school, I studied literary classics, as part of my classes and through independent study. And in college, I began journalistic-style reporting for others and crafted my own awkward and naïve short stories.  Formal study caused a shift in life's fortunes:  the texts, the ideas, the people I met, the opportunities that opened to me, all were influenced by the forms and language that I read.

Reading Informs Writing

Writing any further on this topic could lead me to writing something akin to memoir. 'My Life of Reading' would prove to be more extensive than a blog post (although a short list of influential works that inspired me to make significant life choices might prove interesting).

Even this blog post is an example of intertextuality, inspired as it was by another's post, informed by the decades of writing, reading, and thinking that have come before.

Suffice it to say that my life moved on from teaching about books I knew and teaching about writing. Specific books and related experiences inspired me to gain an advanced degree, take on a consulting career, travel to places I never knew I'd visit, and form relationships occasionally mirroring some of the stories I'd read and occasionally growing out of a shared love and respect for specific texts. Those interwoven acts of significant reading and heartfelt writing influenced a number of the choices I made in life.

From Text to Action

To state it simply, reading certain works changed me. Reading them in juxtaposition probably altered my perspectives even more.

In another post, at some point, I plan to describe the works that have influenced my choices by inspiring me to take my circuitous life's path.

I've also been working on a memoir. That longer work can help me expand on and express at least some of these influences in more detail.
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*Highly recommended for anyone who wants to get started with meditation in a non-sectarian way.