Transtextuality within (post)modernist literary narratives: subtypes of textual transcendence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.28925/2311-259x.2025.3.3Keywords:
text, textuality, culture, (post)modernity, context, originalityAbstract
The phenomenon of transtextuality appears not only as a relevant subject of research for (post)structuralists but also as a significant methodological tool in (post)modern literary studies. The five subtypes of transtextuality provided by Gérard Genette — intertextuality, paratextuality, hypertextuality, architextuality and metatextuality — are examined in this study through the lens of (post)modernist pursuits, highlighting the concept of textual transcendence. Transtextuality indicates the type of relationships of texts to others, emphasising the transtextual ʻunityʼ of literature and some extraliterary phenomena, and therefore raises the need to explore relevant relations in ʻtextsʼ for their possible interpretation.
This study aims to explore the application of the theory of transtextuality in the works of (post)modernist authors who exhibit various subtypes of textual transcendence. The subject of the study is the specific features of transtextual links in the artistic practices of (post)modernists. The element of scientific novelty lies in examining texts in relation to other phenomena of global culture and criticism. The results of the study demonstrate the polymorphic character of transtextuality, encompassing different levels and mechanisms of textual interaction – from quotation and allusion to hypertextual and metatextual strategies — forming an integrated system of semantic connections. Among the five subtypes, intertextuality plays a central role in shaping postmodernism as an original artistic movement, particularly in literature, while emphasising that any new text, as a multidimensional space shaped by historical and social circumstances, represents a reinterpretation of previous creative experience.
Thus, transtextuality appears not only as a theoretical model of textual interrelation but also as a universal analytical category in contemporary literary studies, interpreting cultural development as a continuous process of meaning renewal. Prospects for further research include expanding the analysis of transtextuality beyond literature into the realms of digital media, hypertextual and multimodal forms of writing, where textual interaction manifests in new semiotic and communicative dimensions.
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