Early modern intertextuality: post structuralism, narrative systems, and 'A midsummer night's dream'

Tools

Carter, S. ORCID: 0000-0002-9650-6334, 2016. Early modern intertextuality: post structuralism, narrative systems, and 'A midsummer night's dream'. Literature Compass, 13 (2), pp. 47-57. ISSN 1741-4113

Preview

Text
PubSub5538_Carter.pdf - Post-print
Download (355kB) | Preview

Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1111/lic3.12293

Abstract

Central to both early modern critical study and the theory of intertextuality are concepts such as the plurality of discourse, the mutually informing relationship between cultural ideologies and texts, and the instability of texts. Following revised critical approaches, this essay argues that there is potential in the direct application and exploration of the theory of intertextuality in early modern literature, particularly in the sense of engagement with and the extensive refiguring of elements from available narrative systems including classical mythology, folklore, and contemporary continental writing through allegory, allusion and translation. Critical consideration of reading, creative imitation, and interpretative variety are central to both fields. This essay argues that these central aspects of early modern creative writing constitute a valid application of intertextual theory, which can be used to generate detailed and multilayered critical readings. It outlines an understanding of intertextuality, demonstrates how the theory is illustrated both in the period and in inherited classical textual theory, and offers a brief applied case study, reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595) as an overtly intertextual text.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Literature Compass

Creators:

Carter, S.

Publisher:

Wiley

Date:

2016

Volume:

Number: