Development of a Text: Context, Intertextuality, and

Hypertext
Judith Still and Michael Worton, in their introduction of the work Intertextuality: Theories and Practices, say that a text
“cannot exist as a hermetic or self-sufficient whole; and so does not function as a closed system.” In other words, one
cannot understand a text fully without considering its context and its connection to other texts. The context and other
texts shape the meaning of that text.

Define context.
Recognize the components of context.
Use guide questions to examine and understand a text's context.
Define intertextuality and identify texts that are connected or linked to other texts.
Define hypertext and give examples of hypertexts.
Relate the concepts of context, intertextuality, and hypertext to critical reading.

Importance of Context in the Development of a Text

The Oxford Dictionary defines context as “the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea,
and in terms of which it can be fully understood.” Such circumstances, which can be cultural, historical, political,
social, or economic events, shape or influence a writer in writing his or her work. For instance, a personal narrative
entitled “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” was likely written to relate the writer’s summer experience. With this
purpose in mind, the writer narrates the experience in relation to his or her context: where and how he or she usually
spends the summer and with whom, what is summer like where he or she lives and how other people there spend the
summer, and what prompted him or her to spend the summer that way.

Depending on the type of text, the context can include the following components:

Subject: This is the main topic of the author’s work. It can be anything under the sun: culture, history, politics,
society, economy, religion, current events, etc.

Purpose: This is the author’s reason for writing. It can be one of the following:

To narrate a story
To compare and contrast ideas
To review or evaluate a work
To explain an idea or concept
To explore and investigate an issue
To argue a point
To persuade the audience

Audience: The tone, style, diction, organization, and content of the author’s work depend on his or her target
audience or readers.

Occasion or situation: This may compel the writer to write especially if it is significant or relevant to him or her
personally. It can be his or her personal motivation to choose what to write about and how to write it.
Below are some questions that you can ask about the text that you are reading to examine or understand its context.

When was the text written? What was the society like back then?
Where was the text written? How did the place influence the author’s writing?
What were the political, social, cultural, economic, or even religious influences in the author’s life that are reflected in
his or her writing?
What were the influences of the genre and the author’s contemporaries in his or her work?

Intertextuality

Writers often reference another literary, media, or social text in their own writing. They create a link or connection then
between their work and other texts. The relationship formed between the two texts is called intertextuality.

Julia Kristeva, a French author, coined the term intertextuality. In her essay “Word, Dialogue, and Novel,” published in
1967, she says, “Any text is constructed as a mosaic of quotations: any text is the absorption and transformation of
another.” A text, she argues, depends on other texts and discourses. With this definition, intertextuality then is not
only important to the creation of text but also to its interpretation: for a reader to understand the meaning of a text, he
or she should be able to make sense of its connection or relationship with the other text.
The author’s choice of reference in his or her writing asks the reader:

Why did the author reference another text in his or her writing?
How is the text incorporated in the author’s writing? How did the author reimagine it?
What effect does the text have on the author’s writing?

The following are two forms of intertextuality:

The writer references either a brief or prolonged portion of a literary text in his or her writing. He or she mentions the
title of the book, uses one of its characters, or recreates one of its scenes. An example is Miguel Syjuco’s novel
Ilustrado, which references Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. One of the novel’s protagonists is named
Crispin, and the main plot revolves around a balikbayan who experiences the corruption and hypocrisy of his
homeland. His experience echoes the character Crisostomo Ibarra/Simon.

The writer references a media or social text in his or her writing. He or she mentions a film, a TV show, a song, or any
event in society, history, politics, etc. and becomes part of the writing.

As a literary device, intertextuality is used by many writers to shape the meaning of their work or add to it. Using the
device allows them to tell stories from a new perspective and to create new possibilities in them. Also, it enhances the
reading experience: it allows the reader to see the story transform and be transformed by the text being referenced.
The reader is compelled to read (or reread) the text being referenced in order to understand its purpose in the current
text and the meaning of the current text eventually.

Below is an excerpt from James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. Notice that Joyce references a newspaper.

IN THE HEART OF THE HIBERNIAN METROPOLIS

Before Nelson’s pillar trams slowed, shunted, changed trolley, started for Blackrock, Kingstown and Dalkey, Clonskea,
Rathgar and Terenure, Palmerston Park and upper Rathmines, Sandymount Green, Rathmines, Ringsend and
Sandymount Tower, Harold’s Cross. The hoarse Dublin United Tramway Company’s timekeeper bawled them off: —
Rathgar and Terenure!

—Come on, Sandymount Green!

Right and left parallel clanging ringing a doubledecker and a singledeck moved from their railheads, swerved to the
down line, glided parallel. —Start, Palmerston Park!

THE WEARER OF THE CROWN

Under the porch of the general post office shoeblacks called and polished. Parked in North Prince’s street His Majesty’s
vermilion mailcars, bearing on their sides the royal initials, E. R., received loudly flung sacks of letters, postcards,
lettercards, parcels, insured and paid, for local, provincial, British and overseas delivery.

GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS

Grossbooted draymen rolled barrels dullthudding out of Prince’s stores and bumped them

up on the brewery float. On the brewery float bumped dullthudding barrels rolled by

grossbooted draymen out of Prince’s stores.

—There it is, Red Murray said. Alexander Keyes.

—Just cut it out, will you? Mr Bloom said, and I’ll take it round to the Telegraph office. The door of Ruttledge’s office
creaked again. Davy Stephens, minute in a large capecoat, a small felt hat crowning his ringlets, passed out with a roll
of papers under his cape, a king’s courier.

Red Murray’s long shears sliced out the advertisement from the newspaper in four clean strokes. Scissors and paste.

—I’ll go through the printingworks, Mr Bloom said, taking the cut square.

—Of course, if he wants a par, Red Murray said earnestly, a pen behind his ear, we can do him one.

—Right, Mr Bloom said with a nod. I’ll rub that in.

We.

The Hypertext
Commonly, hypertext is associated with computing. The term was coined in 1965 by Ted Nelson, an American pioneer
of information technology. It is an arrangement of information in a computer database, in which objects like text,
pictures, and programs are linked to one another. When a user selects an object, he or she can see the other objects
linked to it. In reading an online article, for instance, the user can click on highlighted words or phrases (called
hypertext links) to go to new Web pages with related content.

In his article “Intertextuality vs. Hypertextuality,” Michael Riffaterre states that computers have transformed the
reading process: from reactive to interactive. Reading has ceased to become linear: by simply clicking on hypertext
links, the reader is led to “an endless series of imagined connections, from verbal associations to possible worlds.”

In literature, however, a hypertext is a text that references, alludes to, or derives from another text, which is called the
hypotext. According to French literary scholar Gerard Genette in his book Palimpsests: Literature in the Second
Degree, hypertexts derive from hypotexts through a process called transformation. In this process, the hypertext
transforms, modifies, elaborates on, or extends the hypotext. Below are a few literary works that can be considered
hypertexts.

Ulysses – This novel by the Irish modernist writer James Joyce (1882–1941) features characters that correspond to the
characters of Homer’s Odyssey. The two protagonists, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, correspond to Odysseus
and Telemachus, respectively.

“The Tiger’s Bride” – This short story by the British writer Angela Carter (1940–1992) is a retelling of the well-known
fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. The original tale was written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de
Villeneuve (1695–1755) and was published in 1740. However, the most retold version of the fairy tale was written by
Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1710–1780). In Carter’s version, the narrator is Beauty herself. Unlike in the
original story, she transforms into a beast and joins the Beast as his mate.

“Lot’s Wife” – This poem by the Polish poet Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) is a retelling of the biblical story of Lot’s
wife, who became a pillar of salt when she looked back to their city, Sodom. In Szymborska’s poem, Lot’s wife is the
persona. She gives reasons for her looking back.

IV. Applications to Critical Reading

To read critically means to make judgments about how a text is presented. Knowing the context of the text and being
able to recognize its relationship with other texts provide a way for the reader to examine the text.

Below are some guidelines in reading a text critically.

Analyze the context of the text. Determine its subject, purpose, audience, and the occasion or situation in which it was
produced.

Determine the thesis of the text. What does it say essentially about the subject?

Analyze the given evidence. What kind of evidence is cited? Is it historical, literary, or statistical? What kind of sources
does the information come from? Are the sources credible? How does it support the author’s main argument?

Examine whether the text references another text. What purpose does the other text have in the author’s writing? How
does the author’s work transform the other text? How does the other text affect the meaning of the author’s writing?

Examine the reasoning used in the text by looking at the organization of its ideas. How does the author present the
information? Why does he or she present the information in that order or pattern?

Evaluate the text. Is the main argument strong based on the evidence presented? Does the writer provide enough
evidence? Overall, has the author achieved his or her purpose? Are there any inconsistencies or gaps? Is there a better
way of presenting the evidence? What can you suggest to make the text better?

STUDY GUIDE
 Learning Tasks

Task 1. Read the paragraph below and analyze its context. In your analysis, define the subject, purpose, and audience
of the text and determine the situation in which the text is produced.

In Scott McCloud’s seminal scholarship on the graphic novel Understanding Comics, nowhere does he state an overall
understanding of comics as a genre and medium in itself, instead prioritizing the narrative and sequential rendering of
images. This has raised the eyebrows of those working on non-narrative comics, from the abstractionists to those
whose primary output is what they call comic poetry. Much of the resistance to this relatively new kind of comics
might be coming from a lack of exposure to it or defining what it actually is. For decades, when one hears comics
poetry, what comes to mind is the illustration of poems, as seen in Classics Illustrated and more recently, the Graphic
Canon. What existed then was mere representation of an existing poem, particularly one that is part of the English
literary canon. No creative liberty can be taken by the artists—if the text says “raven,” then they must draw the actual
bird.

Task 2. Together with a classmate, read about the genre of fan fiction. Then read three pieces of fan fiction and fill in
the table below with the right information.

TITLE AND AUTHOR THE SOURCE OR THE STORYLINE, CHARACTERS, OR

OF THE WORK BASIS OF THE WORK THEME THAT WORK RETAINS

Answer the following questions about your choices of fan fiction.

How does the original text influence each work?

What is “new” in each work that you have chosen? In your opinion, does each work change the original story or does it
add to it? Why?

From reading fan fiction, what can you conclude about intertextuality? How about hypertexts?

Task 3. Choose any Filipino literary text and do a critical reading of it. Follow the guidelines in reading critically. Then
write a 300-word critical analysis of the text. In your analysis, you should be able to analyze the context of the text and
the references it makes to other texts.

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Examples

Questions

_____________ is the referencing of another literary, media, or social text in an author’s work.

Which statement is not true of a hypertext in literature?

It elaborates on the text.

It transforms the hypotext.

It derives from another text.

It allows the reader to access other texts.

Which question is not about the context of a text?

When was the text written?

Where was the text written?

How does another text affect the meaning of the author’s writing?

What were the influences of the genre and the author’s contemporaries in his or her work?

Answers

Intertextuality

Explanation:

Writers often reference another literary, media, or social text in their own writing. The relationship formed between
their work and the other text is called intertextuality.

d. It allows the reader to access other texts.

Explanation:

The statement is true of a hypertext in computing.

c. How does another text affect the meaning of the author’s writing?

Explanation:

The question refers to intertextuality.

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Wrap Up

Context

subject purpose audience occasion/situation

Intertextuality

a brief or prolonged portion of

a media or social text in his or
a literary text
her writing

Hypertext

In computing: an arrangement of information in a In literature: a text that references, alludes to, or

computer database, in which objects like text, pictures, derives from another text, which is called the hypotext
and programs are linked to one another©2016 Quipper
Limited
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STUDY GUIDE

TIPS

Questions to examine or understand the context of the text

When was the text written? What was the society like back then?
Where was the text written? How did the place influence the author’s writing?
What were the political, social, cultural, economic, or even religious influences in the author’s life that are reflected in
his or her writing?
What were the influences of the genre and the author’s contemporaries in his or her work?

Questions on author’s choice of reference in his or her writing

Why did the author reference another text in his or her writing?
How is the text incorporated in the author’s writing? How did the author reimagine it?
What effect does the text have on the author’s writing?

Guidelines in reading a text critically

Analyze the context of the text. Determine its subject, purpose, audience, and the occasion or situation in which it was
produced.
Determine the thesis of the text.
Analyze the given evidence.
Examine whether the text references another text.
Examine the reasoning used in the text by looking at the organization of its ideas.
Evaluate the text.

KEY POINTS

The Oxford Dictionary defines context as “the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea,
and in terms of which it can be fully understood.” Such circumstances, which can be cultural, historical, political,
social, or economic events, shape or influence a writer in writing his or her work.

Writers often reference another literary, media, or social text in their own writing. The relationship formed between
their work and the other text is called intertextuality.
Hypertexts in literature derive from hypotexts through a process called transformation. In this process, the hypertext
transforms, modifies, elaborates on, or extends the hypotext.

Bibliography

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www.angelacartersite.co.uk/.

Beal. Vangie. 2016. “Hypertext.” Accessed September 30, 2016. http://www.webopedia.com/ TERM/H/hypertext.html.

Biography.com. 2016. “Biography of James Joyce.” Accessed September 30, 2016. http://www.

biography.com/people/james-joyce-9358676.

Goodreads. 2016. “Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.” Accessed September 30, 2016.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/670242.Gabrielle_Suzanne_Barbot_de_Villeneuve.

———. 2016. “Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.” Accessed September 30, 2016. http://
www.goodreads.com/author/show/4955836.Jeanne_Marie_Leprince_de_Beaumont.

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Herman, David. 1998. “Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree (review).” Accessed September 30, 2016.
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writingcommons.org/open-text/writing-processes/think-rhetorically/714-consider-your-context.

Oliver, Kelly. 2016. “Julia Kristeva.” Accessed September 30, 2016. https://www.britannica.

com/biography/Julia-Kristeva.

Poetry Foundation. 2016. “Wislawa Szymborska.” Accessed September 30, 2016. https://www.

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Szymborska, Wislawa. 2016. “Lot’s Wife.” Accessed September 30, 2016. http://www.

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University of Leicester. 2016. “What Is Critical Reading.” Accessed September 09, 2016. http://
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