Intertextuality, Interpretation and Ideology

 When I red the required reading assignment I did not realize how beneficial and interesting these topics were until I attended the last week class. Although intertextuality, interpretation and ideology seemed to be very complicated words when I red them for the first time, the way that our instructor, Michael McGinnis, explained them in the class was well organized. He was able to provide us with clear definitions to understand and apply them.

   

According to that discussion, intertexuality was defined as a relationship between texts. One example for this was “Save the Bay” and “Pave the Bay” Although these two sentences were slightly different; they were related and dependent on each other. An active intertexuality applied to two texts when the relationship between them was known and recognized by the reader. It called the reader’s attention. A passive intertexuality was not necessary an opposite of an active intertexuality. A passive intertexuality was more about an indirect and a less recognizable relationship between texts.

 

Interpretation was explained through comparing three different texts for three different writers. Everyone of the text writer had a different method to define interpretation. Kermode suggested that the reader should know about the text before he or she reads it in order to understand the meaning of it. Sontage was against the interpretation. She described it as reductive and violative.  Eco’s writing presented the interpretation in form of the intention of the text.

 

Ideology was the easiest topic. It was defined as the categories that we belong to. These categories are race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, religion, class, age, and nationality. When the instructor asked a question about what we thought a terrorist’s ideology should be, one of the student broke his silence and gave a clear answer to the question. This situation made me ask myself this following question, does someone’s behavior verify his or her ideology? or does someone’s ideology determine his or her behavior?

 

    In conclusion, these three terms are helpful because they will help us to think critically whenever we read a book. In addition to this, we will be able to build up our reading skills and abstract more out of the text.