Intertextuality: Infectious Echoes from the Past

Children's awareness of intertextual links between texts written & those read is examined. Intertextuality is the process of interpreting one text by means of a previously composed text. The research described grew out of a general trend within the literacy field to examine the active role of the reader as a maker of meaning. Sixth-grade children from a rural region of Australia (N = 80) were interviewed within their schools. The interview was semi-structured, beginning with a series of context-setting questions, followed by one fairly open research question "Do you ever think of stories you've read when you are writing a story?" If the answer was "yes," this was followed by a series of unstructured probe questions designed to elicit additional responses. Responses were analyzed by two independent raters using inductive analysis. Though there was great diversity in responses, the analysis suggested that there were seven major categories of response: use of genre, use of character as a model, use of specific idea without copying plot, copying the plot but using different ideas, copying the plot & ideas, transferring content from expository to narrative texts, & creating a narrative from several other narratives. The findings indicated that almost all children are aware of intertextuality & that most "poach" from the stories of others. The majority of links were at the level of ideas & plot, with only a few students aware of such things as genre & characterization. Surprisingly, few ability differences were evident. These findings support a constructivist conception of reading & underline the importance of significant literary experiences for all students. It appears that classrooms providing a rich literary environment characterized by the reading & writing of a variety of written genres will have an impact upon the intertextual histories of students. 30 References. Modified AA