Intertextuality,Intertextual Referencing & Its Use in Music Videos

What Is It?

That doesn’t really help in explaining what it does, or even really what it is!

And so lets take a look at the origin of the term.

While Google puts it extremely simply as:

Julia KristevaKristeva coined the term intertextuality to focus specifically on the text to relationships within semionics (the study of how signs derive meaning).She’s basically saying that an audiences understanding of a text is usually taken from “codes” established in other texts.She suggests that every text is not just an isolated entity and they are actually interlaced with the meanings and codes of other texts, making a mosaic of allusions and references to other media.

Types of IntertexualityThere are a few different ways in which a text can reference another and how the audience can identify the citing:

• Obligatory – this is when a reference is made that is important to the text. Therefore if the audience does not comprehend the credit they will not fully understand the text in hand.

• Optional –the author is paying homage to another text and so the recognition of the allusion is not vital to the interpretation of the text

• Accidental – this relies on the audience to make connections between two text that were not intended by the author.

Intertextuality in GenreGenres come with a pre-set of codes and conventions and because of this it’s common to find references between texts of the same genre. A bold genre can present the audience with an intertextual framework that pulls from all the previous texts of that genre.Spoof texts belong to a genre that revolves around taking from other texts and giving them a comic feel.

Intertextuality in Music Videos• Goldfish – We Come Together

This music video is full of references to nerd culture from media such as Star Wars, internet memes and Nintendo games. This focuses the video to their target audience (of nerds).• Madonna – Material Girl

Possibly one of the most famous homages in a music video, Madonno references the Marilyn Monroe film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”• Iggy Azalea – I’m So Fancy

The entirety of this video is a reference to the hit 90s flick “Clueless” as the costumes and setting are almost identical.