Skip Navigation

Forum for Modern Language Studies 2007 43(2):134-146; doi:10.1093/fmls/cqm004
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bassnett, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2007). Published by Oxford University Press for the Court of the University of St Andrews. All rights reserved

Influence and Intertextuality: A Reappraisal

Susan Bassnett

Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom


  Abstract

This essay considers shifts of approach in comparative literature, from early endeavours to trace direct influences of one author upon another to a more holistic model that sees the study of literature as the study of intertextual connections. Starting with Matthew Arnold's statement about the impossibility of comprehending any single literature adequately without taking into account other literatures, the essay considers three cases: the relationship between James Joyce and Italo Svevo is discussed as an example of the difficulties of proving direct influence; Seamus Heaney's use of Dante offers an example of the creative way in which a writer can incorporate the work of another writer into his own poetry, and finally the reception of Ezra Pound's Cathay shows how the context in which a work appears and the reaction of readers can radically alter the fortunes of a literary text. The role of translation is seen as crucially important as a force for innovation and change in a literature.

Key Words: connections • intertextuality • influence studies • translation; web


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.