Investigating Intertextuality in Modern Arabic Novels

One of the most common and important phenomena in literature translation and linguistic studies is intertextuality. It deals with the factors that ease the use of a text dependent greatly upon knowledge of previously encountered texts. Further intertextyality refers to the notion that each individual’s text or speech is derived from and shaped by its continuous interaction with other persons’ text or speech. Terminologically speaking intertextuality was first coined by Kristeva (1960s) though some believe that the very origins of the concept date back to Ferdinand de Saussure’s and Bakhtin’s ideas. Kristeva asserts that no text can ever be completely free of other texts. Although intertextuality is part of all text types: journalistic scientific philosophical historical and religious texts most studies on textology and intertextuality have focused on literary texts because such texts are usually filled with intertextual elements.