Home Linguistics & Semiotics “Laura! Laura! Wake up”
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

“Laura! Laura! Wake up”

The politics and pragmatics of intertextuality and appropriation
  • Robin T. Lakoff
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
Pragmaticizing Understanding
This chapter is in the book Pragmaticizing Understanding

Abstract

The concepts of intertextuality and appropriation have been of great use, since their introduction by Bakhtin and Kristeva, in a wide range of disciplines. Although the distinction between them remains elusive, both refer to citations – explicit and otherwise; direct or indirect – of texts in other texts. This paper discusses the social and political functions of such references, including, when successful, the achievement of cultural cohesion, but, when unsuccessful, the reverse. Several examples are discussed briefly, and two political cartoons from American popular publications during the 2008 presidential election, one successful and the other not, are analyzed at length and compared and contrasted.

Abstract

The concepts of intertextuality and appropriation have been of great use, since their introduction by Bakhtin and Kristeva, in a wide range of disciplines. Although the distinction between them remains elusive, both refer to citations – explicit and otherwise; direct or indirect – of texts in other texts. This paper discusses the social and political functions of such references, including, when successful, the achievement of cultural cohesion, but, when unsuccessful, the reverse. Several examples are discussed briefly, and two political cartoons from American popular publications during the 2008 presidential election, one successful and the other not, are analyzed at length and compared and contrasted.

Downloaded on 21.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/z.170.09lak/html
Scroll to top button