- Sep 2022
-
Local file Local file
-
IntertextsAs Jonathan Culler writes: “Liter-ary works are not to be consideredautonomous entities, ‘organicwholes,’ but as intertextual con-structs: sequences which havemeaning in relation to other textswhich they take up, cite, parody,refute, or generally transform.” ThePursuit of Signs (Ithaca, NY: CornelUniversity Press, 1981), 38.
Throughout Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts (Utah State University Press, 2006) Joseph Harris presents highlighted sidebar presentations he labels "Intertexts".
They simultaneously serve the functions of footnotes, references, (pseudo-)pull quotes, and conversation with his own text. It's not frequently seen this way, but these intertexts serve the function of presenting his annotations of his own text to model these sorts of annotations and intertextuality which he hopes the reader (student) to be able to perform themselves. He explicitly places them in a visually forward position within the text rather than hiding them in the pages' footnotes or end notes where the audience he is addressing can't possibly miss them. In fact, the reader will be drawn to them above other parts of the text when doing a cursory flip through the book upon picking it up, a fact that underlines their importance in his book's thesis.
This really is a fantastic example of the marriage of form and function as well as modelling behavior.
cc: @remikalir
-
-
-
All five moves focus on the necessity of incorporating outside voicesinto a student’s own writings,
I can't help but think about the older practice of writing texts as dialogues.
-
Harris further illustrates hisown idea of voices adding to an author’s text; each chapter contains multiple “intertexts,”which are small graphics with citation references to outside materials addressed nearby inthe text. These intertexts reinforce the practice of adding voices to the author’s docu-ment. These illustrations are effective; essentially, Harris is reflecting and modeling thepractice.
I quite like the idea of intertexts, which have the feeling of annotating one's own published work with the annotations of others. A sort of reverse annotation. Newspapers and magazines often feature pull quotes to draw in the reader, but why not have them as additional voices annotating one's stories or arguments.
This could certainly be done without repeating the quote twice within the piece.
-