When I think of intertextuality I instantly think of the relationship between Disney's, The Lion King and Shakespeare's, Hamlet. The two texts share similar characters and moments. Intertextuality is the interaction between two different texts, a text being anything that can be read or interpreted. So, intertextuality would be a new text that has been influenced by an older text. What is the purpose of intertextuality? Why would an author want to incorporate someone else's ideas in his/her own work? Bringing successful elements of one text into another has the potential to enhance the reader's interest and connection with the work since it is familiar and even ironic.
So, in The Lion King Simba born to Sarabi and Mufasa is the prince of the Pride Lands, just like prince Hamlet is the prince of Denmark. The moment where I personally saw the closest connection between the two stories, is when Scar murders his brother Mufasa hoping to one day be in power of the Pride Lands just like when Claudius murders his brother King Hamlet succeeding to the throne of Denmark. Throughout both stories the princes take revenge on their uncle.
Since I saw the movie The Lion King before reading Hamlet, it made reading Hamlet more enjoyable and thrilling since I could relate it to a childhood movie. It also made me value The Lion King more since it is based off of such an important piece of literature.
Chloe, when I realized Hamlet and The Lion King were almost the same story it blew my mind too. I think there are a lot more similarities between the two stories that you could have pointed out like how both of their fathers come back as a ghost and the similarities between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Timon and Pumbaa. I like how you wrote about The Lion King first and Hamlet second because that was the order in which you were introduced to them. Your definition of intertextuality is very helpful in understanding its concept.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was thinking of which two texts I was going to use for this assignment I was wondering if we could use movies or not, so I'm glad you offered your interpretation of what a text is I completely agree. I also like how you questioned the purpose of intertextuality, and why someone would ever want to use someone else's work. As far as connecting the Lion King and Hamlet I had never noticed any similarities in the two, but the one of murder is a good one. When I first read your statement about the Lion King as literature I didn't completely agree, but after I thought about it I realized it had to come from a script to be a movie so therefore it is literature. Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteHi guys! Thank you for your comments. Katherine, I think that is a great point you make about the similarities between Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
ReplyDelete