In week 4 in our seminar we looked at intertexuality. Intertexuality is the shaping of texts’ meanings by other texts. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined bypost-structuralist Julia Kristen in 1966.
The intertextuality consists of two axes which are:-
- The Horizontal Axis.
- The Vertical Axis.
The horizontal axis connects the author and reader of a text, while the vertical axis connects the text itself to other texts. Some music are also in relation to intertexuality. For example, musics of the likes of musicians like;
Rihanna:-
All the cd covers for Rihanna, shows her emotions clearly or body language representing the song well, each cover is well manipulated to create a flawless effect of either her skin or to capture perfect moment including the edited lighting . The close ups allows the audience to recognise the singer immediately and to visualise her emotions which are clearly expressed also in her music videos, she is the main focus throughout the whole scene.
Madonna:-
Madonna has released so many albums in the past. Her image has been changed to the more dance route of pop re-imaging herself to her target audience. The use of pink and purple on all the products gives a feminine impression, the photography in the background also gives the impression as though she’s in the middle of dancing aslo pot raying of how music is upbeat.
Kanye West:-
Kanye West is a very popular rapper from America, his album covers are unique and eccentric by not using photography similar to “MIKA” but using graphics in an artistic way giving the impression of humour within his lyrics and work. The right cd cover depicts a bear wearing glasses which “WEST” is known to wear in his videos and other cd covers and on tour. It is a distinguishable factor and characteristic which helps the audience to recognise him and his products. It also creates suspense not to be able to see his face well enough.
Watch this link above it’s on intertexuality.
Intertextuality is an interesting notion especially these days. Given our place in history, in the age of communication, where we are bombarded with media, ideas, art, and information to an unholy extent, we gain a lot more cultural capital than generations before us. That is to say, we have a lot more utility from keeping up with the new meme bouncing around the internet or seeing the film that opened at the top of the box office last weekend. If you aren’t familiar with these artifacts, or we can call them texts, it is easier to be out of the loop within daily conversation.
Odinaka Ekweremadu 