Intertextual Pursuits

Book excerpt: This book brings together twelve essays that attest to the continuing viability of intertextuality, a widely recognized by-product of a cosmic readjustment in thinking about the nature and boundaries of texts. All the contributors to this collection are well versed in the theoretical implications of intertextuality. Their essays give repeated evidence that intertextuality is itself dynamically intertextual and that it is as endlessly fruitful as its myriad applications. The essays further demonstrate that, whether theoretically in fashion or out of it, whether seen as rhetorical exercises, ideological statements, or philosophical meditations, intertextual pursuits remain the paramount adventure in the literary-critical enterprise.