Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 Studies on Intertextuality
In the 1960s, a large number of theoretical instruments developed under the background of western literary theory, such as criticism, structuralism, deconstruction, signifier and other terms. Structuralism holds that language is a system, the dialogical features of language are not taken into consideration. The concept of intertextuality emerges from the inheritance and criticism of structuralism. The birth of the intertextuality criticizes structuralism and urges people to reconsider intertextuality. Intertextuality also affirms and explains the traditional methods which describing the relationship between texts. At the same time, intertextuality makes people pay more attention to a series of major issues in literature and art, such as the generation of literary meaning, the boundary of text, the problem between text and cultural ideographic practice. The concept of intertextuality contains very complex textual relations, and it has a complex background and a long history. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the development of intertextuality.
2.1.1 Studies on Intertextuality Abroad
The origin of the concept of intertextuality can be traced back to The Theory of Imitation of Plato, the famous Ancient Greek philosopher. Plato defines poetry as a text that had been written before and a copy of some other texts. That is to say, a text is not generated by itself, it must be mixed with other social knowledge. Intertextuality developed in linguistic theory of 20th century, especially in Saussure’s structural linguistics, and intertextuality has gained impetus from Bakhtin’s dialogue theory. When Kristeva (1986) proposes the concept of intertextuality, she aims at combine Saussure’s linguistic theory with Bakhtin’s dialogue theory to make a new attempt at criticism. Through the analysis of relevant literature, this thesis reviews the research on intertextuality abroad from three aspects: deconstructive criticism of intertextuality, poetics research on intertextuality, and linguistics research on intertextuality.
2.2 Studies on Functions of Intertextuality
The development of intertextuality theory in China is still short, and it is not thorough enough. It is still confined to the definition of intertextuality and the description of intertextuality means. There is relatively little research on intertextuality, which is still a favorable perspective to expand the research field of intertextuality.
2.2.1 Studies on Functions of Intertextuality Abroad
Intertextuality theory comes from Bakhtin’s (1981) dialogue theory, which holds that language exists in a specific social context. This is in response to the previous discussion. Kristeva (1969) puts forward intertextuality on the basis of Bakhtin’s dialogue theory, pointing out that all discourse are made up of countless quotations, and no discourse can exist independently, and all discourse are produced by absorbing and transforming another discourse. A discourse is not only the product of an author, but also a new discourse produced by the author's absorption and processing of existing texts. Lemke (2002) holds that the meaning of text is formed in the process of contacting with other texts. He believes that the conversion between texts includes the conversion of genre, theme, structure and function. Different types of discourse will show different characteristics and play different functions in intertextuality, but there is no systematic and comprehensive study on this aspect.
Chapter Three Theoretical Framework ............................. 23
3.1 Definition of Intertextuality .......................... 23
3.2 Classification of Intertextuality ....................... 24
Chapter Four Social Pragmatic Functions of Intertextuality in Political Discourse from the Perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis ............ 36
4.1 Description of Intertextuality in Political Disco
