This book is a comprehensive introduction to the idea of intertextuality and the debates surrounding it. Mary Orr focuses on the four key thinkers whose work has been central to these debates - Kristeva, Barthes, Bloom and Genette - and, with an innovative perspective, guides the reader through the original texts of each of them. Of special importance is the author's reading of Kristeva's Semeiotikè. Orr's investigation takes a fresh approach to the rival French critics who also worked on intertexuality (Angenot, Derrida, Girard and Ricoeur) and tackles the 'language' of intertextuality, shining new light on some of the terminology most commonly associated with this concept.

Prologue. Introduction. Chapter 1 -- Intertextuality. Kristeva's Term in Context. Kristeva's Intertextuality and Semeiotike. Barthes. Riffaterre. Interdiscursivity. Interdisciplinarity. Internet and Hypertext. Chapter 2 -- Influence. Influence v Intertextuality. Bloom's 'Anxiety of Influence' in Context. Harold Bloom. 'Traditional' Influence. Chapter 3 -- Imitation. Imitation in Context: Mimesis or Anti--mimesis?. Richard Dawkins: Genetics and 'Memetics'. Gerard Genette: Rhetoric and the Mimologic. Rene Girard: Sandal and Excommunication. Countering the Canon: Imitatio v Plagiarism, Forgery, Counterfeit. Chapter 4 -- Quotation. Quotation in context: Dictionary or Postmodern Definitions?. Quotation's Crystallizations: Illustrations in Few Other Words. AllusionQuotation's Aptness: Adeptness in Other Words. Abridgement as Allegory and Parable. Bridging as Cycle and Cyclification. Span and Interpretation. Quotation as Extraction: Re--circulations and Exchanges in so Many Other Words. Prophecy. Translation. Coda: the Return of Reference and the Work of Paul Ricoeur. Conclusions. Notes. Refernces and Bibliography. Index. Dictionary of Alternative Terms.