Journal of Survey in Fisheries Sciences 10(2S) 1278-1283 2023

The Filaments of Intertextuality in the God of Small Things

DR. VISHNU KUMAR SHARMA

Assistant Professor, JECRC University Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

DR. VISHAKHA CHAUHAN

Assistant Professor, JECRC University Jaipur, Rajasthan, India,
[email protected]

DR. PARVEEN BALA

Associate Professor, JECRC University Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Abstract
Intertextuality is the approach to representing things from literary or extra-literary resources
without following traditional notions of authorship. It undermines the idea of the text as
independent and foregrounding. The principal focus is on the way that how artistic creations occur
within the presence of other texts. The laser light of research is set onto the prism of the complex
phenomenon of intertextuality to ransack the detail to brighten the abyss for readers, to enlighten
the desiderium when and why the speaker or author detects the required ways to relate the message
from another resource, how they are interconnected to create new messages fit to new conditions,
and lastly how the new text reinforces the significance and cast an impression on the reader by
extending the conception of the scene concerned.
Keywords: Atrocity, Exploitation, Intertextuality, Nostalgia, Optimistic.
INTRODUCTION understand the text. Intertextuality is the
forming of a text's connotation by another text.
An author intends to convey a message or idea Intertextuality includes parody, illusions,
to his/her reader behind the writing, and for citations, calque, counterfeiting,
that, he tries his/her best by exploring all interpretations, satire, and pastiche. The way a
available sources so that the reader can writer adapts an earlier work or makes
understand the message according to the references to one book while reading another is
author’s intention and respond accordingly. an example of intertextuality.
The ardour, that the message should be
conveyed and responded to as desired intention The Oxford Dictionary described it as a
paves a way to explore greatly the available “relation between texts, especially literary
resources thereby automatically occurs the ones” (Pearsall, ed. The New Oxford
concept of intertextuality. When the aim behind Dictionary of English 956). The term
writing is amelioration, intertextuality becomes intertextuality is derivative of the Latin
crucial. Roy “has a mammoth contribution to intertexto, which means to intermix. The term
monitoring the major complexities and was introduced by French semiotician Julia
concerns in society.” Kristeva in the late sixties. In the essay “Word,
Dialogue, and Novel,” Kristeva renounced
The intertextual threads in The God of Small traditional concepts of the author’s ‘influences’
Things have a very important place to and the ‘sources’ of a text’. Writing, then, isn't

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just the result of a solitary writer, but of its India. Arundhati Roy, even before her career as
relationship to different texts and to the designs a writer, experienced migratory experiences
of language itself. “Any text, she argues, is inside the Indian sub-continent, which is itself
constructed of a mosaic of quotations; any text a mosaic of different traditions and social set-
is the absorption and transformation of ups. Thus, she has numerous intercultural and
another.” (Megan Becker-Leckrone, Julia multicultural experiences. These encounters
Kristeva and Literary Theory 93) reflect in her writings which in a real sense
resound with intertextuality, both intra-social
In his book Intertextuality, Graham Allen and culturally diverse, drawing from both
writes that “the text is not an individual, Eastern and Western sources, sensationalizing
isolated object, but a compilation of cultural all the while the rationalization of the old and
textuality (Allen, Intertextuality 36). By the new. One may here refer to “the
implication, all cultures and thus the world stereographic plurality of the weave of
itself becomes a text. All discourses, therefore, signifiers in the text's tissue.” (Barthes, Image-
are interpretations of the world, as Bakhtin puts Music-Text 159). As he makes the point that
it, “responses and calls to other discourses” the text not only initiates a variety of meanings
(Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevski's Poetics but also weaves together several discourses and
53). Intertextuality is, thus, an approach to spins meanings that already exist. Arundhati
representing things from literary or extra- Roy uses a variety of texts and discourses to
literary resources without following traditional generate drastically varied intertextual effects
notions of authorship. It undermines the idea of in her writing, which is noteworthy to observe.
the text as independent and foregrounding. All Arundhati Roy decides to use intertextuality to
literary creations take place in the presence of expose the naked dance of exploitation and
other texts. Consequently, it surprises no one breath-choking atrocities and the ensuing
that The God of Small Things, is packed with yearning for the past way of life. She has
intertextual recourses. “attempted to cut the chains that chained the
The device intertextuality in any literary text marginalized peoples by attacking the nexus
can be viewed at various levels: passing between criminals and government and anti-
references from different texts or occasions democratic working of the bureaucracy.” She
may spin the context for a text; expanded and also uses intertextuality to build a worldview of
rehashed references may work as a theme or an decadence along with patriarchal arrogance.
image, or its unavoidable presence in the She uses a variety of tales, points of view, and
background of main text may create diverse sources to build a compelling tale. Because of
suggestions. Intertextuality would maybe be this, some of them get the status of fact and
more straightforward to understand on the off fiction, giving them the status of history and
chance that its sources were from a single myth, while others foster an omnipresent
culture with a homogeneous interpretative feeling of mystery. In view of this “Definitely
society. It turns out to be significantly more the reader feels a friendly Indian voice, with no
perplexing on the off chance that the sources humbug in it, no artificiality, nearly an implicit
are multifaceted or cross-cultural, however, assumption that marginalized are all alike –
such a view is very normal in the present global destined to doom.”
situation. The resonances of diverse Julia Kristeva’s concept of intertextuality
intertextuality are probably more prominent in highlights the importance and the formative
postcolonial social set-ups in a liminal space — influences that other texts have in shaping a
neither completely customary nor completely particular work. It is not only other works of
modern — as is the picture of contemporary literature but also other texts such as films,

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advertisements, and media whose presence can several versions of their own and their parents’
be noticed in the novel. According to Rajewsky ordeals and even deaths. The different
intermediality is - “those configurations that viewpoints which range from sin to
have to do with a crossing of borders between benevolence to pity are attempts to link them
media” intermedial references in a specific up with popular mythical figures from the
medium point to aspects of another medium. Ramayana, Mahabharata and with literary
Furthermore, Rajewsky suggests that: figures from many texts. An extended
reflection on the meaning of history and its
“The media product uses its own media- links with myth and legend is perhaps
specific means, either to refer to a specific, inevitable in a land of many oral traditions like
individual work produced, in another medium India.
(i.e., what in the German tradition is called
Einzelreferenz, ‘individual reference’), or to “While Kunti revealed her secret to Karna on
refer to a specific medial subsystem (such as a the riverbank, courting couples rubbed suntan
certain film genre) or to another medium qua oil on each other. While fathers played
system (Systemreferenz, ‘system reference’).” sublimated sexual games with their nubile
teenaged daughters, Poothana suckled young
Discussion on Sources Krishna at her poisoned breast. Bhima
When and why the speaker or writer feels the disemboweled Dushasana and bathed
need to relate the other text, how they are Draupadi’s hair in his blood.” (The God of
connected to infer new messages in response to Small Things 127)
new circumstances, and finally how they There are several comments in The God of
strengthen the meaning and have an impact on Small Things that suggest that Arundhati Roy
the reader by extending their understanding of makes intertextuality a conscious motif and
the scene in question are all things that research device for instance, the remark made on the
is used to illuminate through the prism of the twins in the context of the Kathakali
complex phenomenon of intertextuality. performance: “Trapped in the bog of a story
An analysis of the Intertextuality in Arundhati that was and wasn't theirs. That had set out with
Roy's The God of Small Things may answer the the semblance of structure and order, then
question of what and how Intertextuality speaks bolted like a frightened horse into anarchy”
in The God of Small Things. (The God of Small Things 236). Similarly, a
rewriting of texts is suggested in the description
Arundhati Roy in The God of Small Things of the twins, “Hansel and Gretel, in a ghastly
creates a women's genealogy through a re- fairy tale in which their dreams would be
creation of the family story or text. She captured and re-dreamed” (The God of Small
emphasises the role of women which has been Things 293). Arundhati Roy makes extended
eradicated. A virtual polyphony/multiplicity of references to texts as different as the popular
histories, stories, and selves appear through the film The Sound of Music (The God of Small
many voices that people the novel. Fact and Things 105-11), Heart of Darkness (The God of
fiction merge to produce a complex intertext Small Things 125-26,199-200,305-06),
having a basically optimistic outlook with Chemmeen (The God of Small Things 218-20),
probably never comes to an end. the Kathakali man and his "Great" texts like
History, in The God of Small Things is Kama Shabadam (The God of Small Things
consciously constructed with intertexts wherein 234) and Duryodhana Vadham (The God of
family histories are rewritten imaginatively. Small Things 229, 234). Many passing
Velutha the protagonist, and Ammu re-imagine allusions are made to texts as disparate as

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popular soap operas like WWF's Hulk Hogan would search everywhere; just when they were
and Mr.Perfect (The God of Small Things 28), sure that all three of them were dead, they
Shakespeare's The Tempest, The Jungle Book, would all return home in triumph. Valued,
The Adventures of Susie Squirrel (The God of loved, and needed more than ever. Her
Small Things 58-59), Sinbad: The Last Voyage clinching argument was that if she were left
(The God of Small Things 80), Julius Caesar behind she might be tortured and forced to
(The God of Small Things 83), Ulysses and reveal their hiding place” (The God of Small
Penelope (The God of Small Things 157), the Things 292).
fairy tales about the Three Bears (The God of
Small Things 180) or the Ugly Toad who turns Here, the dream gets the shape of a full-scale
into a handsome prince, Rumplestiltskin (The nightmare unlike in Mark Twain. There is a
God of Small Things 182), Hansel and Gretel, good attempt for creating the local colour, i.e.,
and even literary texts like A Tale of Two Cities the atmosphere of Kerala in the novel, with the
(The God of Small Things 61), The Scarlet reference to Kathakali and its traditions, the
Pimpernel (The God of Small Things 182) and temple elephants, as well as the boat songs of
so on. Arundhati Roy, a master of the casual Kerala, and the boat races during which they
conversational style, extracts the meaning from are sung. The romantic tragedy Chemmeen
idioms and proverbs also. “Big Man the with its patriarchal overtones and the epics
Lantern. Small man the Tallow-stick”. (The Kama Shabadam and Duryodhana Vadham are
God of Small Things 89) “But Rome was not re-told by the Kathakali dancer to suit the
built in a day.” (The God of Small Things 279) “ungodly human heart.” The retelling is
“A professional omeletteer” (The God of Small connected to the experience that Rahel and
Things 14) refers to a famous idiom – you can’t Estha have had, shaped by the controlling
make an omelette without breaking eggs (Break viewpoint of Ammu-Velutha affair and its
anybody’s eggs to make an omelette for aftermath as experienced by the twins. Thus,
oneself). Kunti and Ammu get linked in the
commonality of their motherhood. Similarly,
“The former apple of Peking’s eye.” (The apple the “madness” of the early-morning
of his/her eye) (The God of Small Things 301), performance of Bhima drinking Dushyasana's
“As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” (The God of blood is transformed and transferred into the
Small Things 31) “Let’s bell the cat once and frenzy of another morning: “the brutal
for all.” (The God of Small Things 184) In extravagance of this” is matched by “the savage
general, these texts are employed in depressing economy” (The God of Small Things 235) of
or pessimistic circumstances. that morning, an obvious reference to
“Velutha's arrest” (The God of Small Things
Another instance of intertextuality arises in 307-12).
Sophie Mol's words when the children run
away together to History House. Her words are Another important point that needs to be
so akin to Tom Sawyer's thoughts and his discussed here is the similarity between
dramatic escapades in Mark Twain's The Arundhati Roy's narrative and Faulknerian
Adventures of Tom Sawyer that one almost texts: though there may not be the same kind of
sees the three cousins transformed into those multiple-narrator perspective that he employs,
pranksters: the story of Ammu, Velutha, and twins is retold
by the omniscient third-person narrator from
“... that the absence of children would heighten the point of view of Baby Kochamma, the
the adults' remorse. It would make them truly twins, the police inspector and so on. The
sorry, like the grownups in Hamelin after the reference to Ammu's illicit affair, forbidden
Pied Piper took away all their children. They

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love, the view of the devastated childhood of William Faulkner's general worldview is
the twins, and the family's history are animalistic and perverted and Arundhati Roy's
comparable to Faulkner's narrative in The fourth chapter "Abhilash Talkies" (94-123),
Sound and the Fury or Light in August or delineates the sexual abuse with Estha, an
Absalom, Absalom! eight-year-old boy and the facility for fulfilling
of the man’s needs for Chacko are not far
Indeed, there are many similarities in structure, different. Again, the narrative of The God of
character, and attitude between Faulkner's Small Things is controlled by the views of the
magnum opus Absalom, Absalom!, and twins and Baby Kochamma, besides the
Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. The omniscient third-person narrator, just as
twins Rahel and Estha have a twin soul or rather Faulkner's. Similarly, the survivors at the end
a single soul, and two bodies that are akin to the of The God of Small Things viz., Baby
sole/integrated identity shared by Kochamma, Rahel, and Estha are half insane,
Judith/Charles Bon/Henry Sutpen triumvirate on a parallel to the howling idiot Jim Bond who
in Absalom, Absalom! The incestuous screams in the ruins of the burnt Sutpen
relationship between Rahel and Estha has a mansion in Absalom, Absalom. The (sub)text
clear affinity in the Absalom, Absalom! “that and the intertext of The God of Small Things
single personality with two bodies both of are thus permeated with considerable
which had been deduced by a man whom at the decadence and pessimism; the worldview that
time Judith had never even seen” (Faulkner, emerges is not very positive.
Absalom, Absalom! 91-92). Velutha in The
God of Small Things, though much older than Cinema is the new God of modern Indian
the twins and not entangled in the incestuous society then how can Arundhati Roy leg behind
relationship (since he has been dead and gone) so far as the matter of intermedial references is
could be said to have a similar place to that concerned? In The God of Small Things the
occupied by Charles Bon in Faulkner's novel, whole fourth chapter viz “Abhilash Talkies” is
since both are discarded in different ways dedicated to the movie.
because of the racist/casteist views of the other
characters. Baby Kochamma the old, CONCLUSIONS
unfulfilled virgin of The God of Small Things To conclude, Intertextuality in Arundhati Roy's
is not far different from Rosa Coldfield of The God of Small Things, is used to emphasize
Absalom, Absalom! who suffers “an itching a pessimistic worldview and the tragic fate of
winter's discontent and dries up even as she virtually all the important characters in the
wishes to bloom” (Faulkner, Absalom, novel. She uses intertextuality as a means to
Absalom! 145). For instance, there are similar build up an atmosphere against the genealogy
overtones of long frustrated years in of corruption and plunder, emphasizing the role
Kochamma's “waiting” for Father Mulligan of duty-divorced democracy cum bureaucracy
and Rosa's “waiting,” not “for light but for that workings versus the longings of the poor.
doom which we call female victory..." Postcolonial impulses thus manifest themselves
(Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! 144), a victory in The God of Small Things in varied shapes
firstly to be realized through Sutpen, and later due to their varied use in varied situations.
as a shocking imaginary substitute to Judith,
through Charles Bon. The analogous situations “The narrative framing of the story is supported
between the ineffectual Ammu in The God of by features that suggest the immediacy of oral
Small Things and Sutpen's first wife Ellen who storytelling, for instance, the direct address of
hardly ever acts with any initiative in Absalom, the implied audience, repetitions, allusion to
Absalom! are notable too. the further development of the story, or

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(possibly) dramatic embellishments. At the Literature in Humanities. Volume VII,

same time, the exclusion of the fictional Issue IV; (April 2019) 399-406.
addressee creates a sense of theatrical
artificiality.” Certainly, the Intertextuality Vishnu Kumar Sharma, “Arundhati Roy and
greatly contributes to “the overall effect that the Aravind Adiga Towards Innovative
novel appears as a kind of mirror for the reader” Summum Bonum.” International Journal
, a medium reflecting the reader’s fears, of English Language, Literature in
stereotypes and presuppositions. As Mohsin Humanities. (IJELLH). Volume VI, Issue
Hamid acknowledges, “the ending (of the V; (May 2018) 1152-1161.
novel) is determined by the way a reader reads
it and by the preconceptions and prejudices and Irina O. Rajewsky, “Intermediality,
fears that a reader has.” Intertextuality and Remediation: A
Literaray Perspective on Intermediality”.
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Vishnu Kumar Sharma, “Arundhati Roy and Rajewsky 52-53.

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Judy Pearsall, ed. The New Oxford Dictionary
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“Big man the laltain, small man the 15wwlnQ4.t.html>
mombatti – A study of The White Tiger
and The God of Small Things”
International Journal of English Language,

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