Intertextuality and the Discourse Community Author(s): James E. Porter Reviewed work(s): Source: Rhetoric Review, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 34-47 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466015 . Accessed: 29/08/2012 09:01 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Rhetoric Review. http://www.jstor.org JAMESE. PORTER at FortWayne IndianaUniversity-Purdue University and the DiscourseCommunity Intertextuality At theconclusionof Eco's TheNameoftheRose, themonkAdso ofMelk returns totheburnedabbey,wherehefindsintheruinsscrapsofparchment, the onlyremnants fromone ofthegreatlibraries in all Christendom. He spendsa daycollecting thecharred fragments, hopingtodiscoversomemeaninginthe scatteredpieces of books. He assembleshis own "lesser library. . . of fragments, quotations,unfinished sentences,amputatedstumpsof books" (500). To Adso, theserandomshardsare"an immenseacrosticthatsaysand repeatsnothing" (501). Yettheyare significant to himas an attempt to order experience. We mightwellderiveourownorderfromthisscene.We mightsee Adso as representing thewriter, andhisdesperate activity attheburnedabbeyas a model forthewriting inthisimageis a collector an process.Thewriter offragments, fromremnants of the archaeologist creatingan order,buildinga framework, past.Insofaras thecollectedfragments helpAdso recallother,losttexts,his he learnedfromhismaster, WilliamofBaskerexperienceaffirms a principle ville: "Not infrequently booksspeakof books"(286). Not infrequently, and perhapseverandalways,textsrefertoothertextsandinfactrelyon themfor a textonlyinsofar theirmeaning.All textsareinterdependent: We understand as we understand itsprecursors. theprinciple Thisis theprinciple thatall writing we knowas intertextuality, and speech-indeed,all signs-arise froma singlenetwork: whatVygotsky label Textor Writing called "theweb of meaning";whatpoststructuralists age perhapsknewas logos.Exam(Barthes,ecriture);andwhata moredistant meanslookingfor"traces,"thebitsandpiecesof iningtexts"intertextually" Textwhichwriters to createnew disor speakersborrowand sew together course.' The mostmundanemanifestation ofintertextuality is explicitcitation, butintertextuality Forthe animates alldiscourseandgoesbeyondmerecitation. intertextual critics,Intertext is Text-a greatseamlesstextualfabric.And,as theyliketo intonesolemnly, no textescapes intertext. withanimportant onecurrently Intertextuality providesrhetoric perspective, I believe.Theprevailing neglected, composition pedagogiesbyandlargecultias free,uninhibited vatetheromantic imageof writer spirit,as independent, natureof disand stressing theintertextual creativegenius.By identifying and as individual we shiftourattention course,however, awayfromthewriter 34 RhetoricReview,Vol.5, No. 1, Fall 1986 Intertextuality and theDiscourseCommunity 35 focusmoreonthesourcesandsocialcontexts fromwhichthewriter's discourse arises.According tothisview,authorial is less significant thansocial intention thewriter is simplya partofa discoursetradition, context; a member ofa team, and a participant in a community of discoursethatcreatesitsown collective meaning.Thustheintertext constrainswriting. My aimhereis todemonstrate thesignificance ofthistheory torhetoric, by itsconnection explaining intertextuality, tothenotionof"discoursecommuniforcomposition. ty,"and itspedagogicalimplications The Presenceof Intertext has been associatedwithbothstructuralism Intertextuality and poststructuralism, withtheorists likeRolandBarthes,JuliaKristeva,JacquesDerrida, HaydenWhite,HaroldBloom,MichelFoucault,andMichaelRiffaterre. (Of course,thetheoryis mostoftenappliedin literary analysis.)The centralassumption ofthesecriticshasbeendescribed byVincentLeitch:"Thetextis not an autonomous or unifiedobject,buta set of relationswithothertexts.Its systemof language,itsgrammar, its lexicon,dragalongnumerous bitsand a Cultural pieces-traces--ofhistory so thatthetextresembles SalvationArmy Outletwithunaccountable collectionsof incompatible ideas, beliefs,and sources"(59). It is these"unaccountable collections"thatintertextual critics focuson,notthetextas autonomous In fact,thesecriticshaveredefined entity. thenotionof"text":Textis intertext, orsimplyText.The traditional notionof thetextas thesingleworkofa givenauthor, andeventheverynotionsofauthor and reader,are regardedas simplyconvenient disfictions fordomesticating course.The old bordersthatwe used to ropeoffdiscourse,proclaimthese critics,are no longeruseful. We can distinguish betweentwo typesof intertextuality: iterability and presupposition. Iterability refersto the "repeatability" of certaintextual tocitation initsbroadest fragments, sensetoincludenotonlyexplicitallusions, references, and quotations withina discourse,butalso unannounced sources andinfluences, Thatis to say,every cliches,phrasesintheair,andtraditions. discourseis composedof"traces,"piecesofothertextsthathelpconstitute its inmyanalysisoftheDecmeaning.(I willdiscussthisaspectofintertextuality larationof Independence.) refers Presupposition to assumptions a textmakes aboutitsreferent, itsreaders,anditscontext-toportions ofthetextwhichare read,butwhichare notexplicitly "there."Forexample,as Jonathan Culler discusses,thephrase"Johnmarried Fred'ssister"is an assertion thatlogically presupposes thatJohnexists,thatFredexists,andthatFredhasa sister."Open thedoor"containsa practicalpresupposition, assumingthepresenceof a decoderwhois capableofbeingaddressedandwhois better abletoopenthedoor 36 RhetoricReview thantheencoder."Onceupona time"is a tracerichinrhetorical presupposition, narrative. signaling toeventheyoungest readertheopeningofa fictional Texts notonlyreferto butin factcontainothertexts.2 of threesampletextswill illustrate thevariousfacetsof An examination ofIndependence, intertextuality. Thefirst, theDeclaration is popularly viewed as theworkofThomasJefferson. Yetifweexaminethetextcloselyinitsrhetorical milieu,we seethatJefferson wasauthor onlyintheveryloosestofsenses.A number ofhistorians andatleasttwocomposition Theoresearchers (Kinneavy, withinterry393-49;Maimon,Readings6-32)haveanalyzedtheDeclaration, estingresults.TheirworksuggeststhatJefferson was by no meansan originalframer ora creative genius,as someliketosuppose.Jefferson wasa skilled writer, to be sure,butchiefly becausehe was an effective borrower oftraces. To producehis originaldraftof theDeclaration,Jefferson seemsto have orunconsciously, borrowed, eitherconsciously fromhisculture's Text.Much has been made of Jefferson's relianceon Locke's social contracttheory (Becker).Locke'stheory influenced colonialpoliticalphilosophy, emerging in variouspamphlets andnewspaper articlesofthetimes,andservedas thefoundationfortheopeningsectionof theDeclaration.The Declarationcontains manytracesthatcanbe foundinother, Therearetracesfrom earlierdocuments. a FirstContinental a Massachusetts Councildeclaration, Congressresolution, of RightsforVirginia," a politicalpamphlet of GeorgeMason's"Declaration JamesOtis,anda variety ofothersources,including a colonialplay.Theoverall form oftheDeclaration (theoretical argument followed bylistofgrievances) strongly resembles,ironically, theEnglishBill of Rightsof 1689, in which Parliament liststheabusesofJamesII anddeclaresnewpowersforitself.Several of theabusesin theDeclarationseemto havebeentaken,moreor less verbatim, froma Pennsylvania EveningPostarticle.Andthemostmemorable "Thatall menarecreated phrasesintheDeclaration seemtobe leastJefferson's: comwhichJefferson equal"is a sentiment from Euripides copiedinhisliterary ofHappiness"was a monplacebookas a boy;"Life,Liberty, andthepursuit clicheof thetimes,appearingin numerous politicaldocuments (Dumbauld). hisin draftof theDeclarationcan hardlybe considered ThoughJefferson's underwent stillmoreexproprianyexclusivesenseofauthorship, thedocument ationatthehandsofCongress,whomadeeighty-six Theochanges(Kinneavy, ry438). Theycutthedraft from211 linesto 147.Theydidconsiderable editing to temperwhat they saw as Jefferson's emotionalstyle: For example, Jefferson's phrase"sacred& undeniable" was changedto themorerestrained "self-evident." Congressexcisedcontroversial passages,suchas Jefferson's tonote,Jefferson's condemnation ofslavery. Thus,we shouldfinditinstructive fewattempts werethoseleastacceptableto Congress. at originalexpression Intertextuality and theDiscourseCommunity 37 IfJefferson theDeclarationfora collegewriting submitted class as hisown writing, he mightwell be chargedwithplagiarism.3 The idea of Jefferson as authoris butconvenient shorthand. Actually,theDeclarationaroseoutof a culturaland rhetorical milieu,was composedof traces and was, in effect, teamwritten. Jefferson deservescreditforbringing disparatetracestogether, forhelpingto moldand articulate themilieu,forcreatingtheall-important draft. skillas a writer toborrow Jefferson's washisability traceseffectively and to find appropriatecontextsfor them. As Michael Halliday says, doesnotconsistinproducing newsentences. Thenewnessofa "[C]reativeness sentenceis a quiteunimportantandunascertainableproperty and'creativity'inlanguageliesinthespeaker'sabilitytocreatenewmeanings: torealizethe potentiality oflanguagefortheindefinite ofitsresources tonewconextension textsof situation.. . . Our most 'creative' acts may be preciselyamong those thatare realizedthrough formsof behaviour"(Explorations highlyrepetitive 42). The creativewriter is thecreativeborrower, in otherwords. Intertextuality can be seenworking similarly in contemporary forums.Recall thisscenefroma recentPepsicommercial: A youngboyinjeansjacket, accompaniedbydog, standsin somedesolateplainscrossroadsnextto a gas station,nexttowhichis a softdrinkmachine.An alienspacecraft, resembling theone in Spielberg'sClose Encountersof the ThirdKind, appearsoverhead. To theboy'sjoyfulamazement, thespaceshiphoversoverthevending machine andbeginssuckingPepsicansintotheship.IttakesonlyPepsi's,theneventuallytakestheentiremachine.Thead closeswitha graphic:"Pepsi.TheChoiceof a New Generation." withSpielberg'smovieor, Clearly,thecommercial presupposes familiarity at least,withhispacificvisionof alienspacecraft. We see severalAmerican cliches,well-worn signsfromtheDepressionera:thedesolateplains,thegeneral store,thepop machine,thecountry boy withdog. These distinctively Americantracesarejuxtaposedagainstimagesfromsciencefictionand the sixtiescatchphrase inthecoda. Inthisarrayofsigns,we have "newgeneration" tradition andcounter-tradition harmonized. Pepsisqueezesitselfinthemiddle, and thusbecomesthegreatAmericanconciliator. The ad's use of ironymay serveto distractviewersmomentarily fromnoticinghow Pepsi achievesits purposeby assigningitselfan exaltedrolethrough use of theintertext. We findan interesting exampleofpracticalpresupposition inJohnKifner's New YorkTimes headlinearticlereporting on theKentStateincident of 1970: Fourstudentsat KentStateUniversity, two of themwomen, wereshotto deaththisafternoon by a volleyof NationalGuard At least8 otherstudents werewounded. gunfire. Rhetoric Review 38 Theburstofgunfire cameabout20 minutes aftertheguardsmen brokeup a noonrallyon theCommons,a grassycampusgathering spot,bylobbingteargas at a crowdofabout1,000youngpeople. Fromoneperspective, thephrase"twoofthemwomen"is a simplestatement theevent,horrible of fact;however,it presupposesa certainattitude-that enoughas it was, is moresignificant becausetwoof thepersonskilledwere women.It mightbe goingtoo farto say thatthephrasepresupposes a sexist attitude ("womenaren'tsupposedtobe killedinbattles"),butcan we imagine thephrase"twoof themmen"in thiscontext?Thoughequallyfactual,this wording wouldhavebeenconsidered oddin 1970(andprobably todayas well) becauseitpresupposes a culturalmindsetalienfromtheone dominant at the time."Twoofthemwomen"is shocking (andhenceitwasreported) becauseit upsetsthesenseof orderof thereaders,in thiscase theAmericanpublic. thetextcontainsa number of Additionally (andmorethana littleironically), traceswhichhavetheeffect ofblunting theshockoftheevent.Noticethatthe students werenotshotbyNationalGuardsmen, butwereshot"bya volleyof . . . gunfire";the tear gas was "lobbed"; and the event occurredat a "grassy campusgathering spot.""Volley"and "lobbed"are military terms,butwith connections tosportas well;"grassycampusgathering spot"suggests a picnic; "burst"canrecalltheglorioussightofbombs"bursting" in"TheStar-Spangled Banner."Thispasticheof signscaststhetextintoa certaincontext, makingit distinctively American.We mightsay thattheturbulent milieuof thesixties provideda distinctive arrayof signsfromwhichJohnKifnerborrowedto producehis article. Each of thethreetextsexaminedcontainsphrasesor imagesfamiliar to its Thustheintertext audienceorpresupposes certainaudienceattitudes. exertsits influence partly intheformofaudienceexpectation. Wemight thensaythatthe foritsproduction as thewriter. audienceofeachofthesetextsis as responsible creatediscourse. That,in essence,readers,notwriters, The Power of DiscourseCommunity criticssuggest,thosewho And,indeed,thisis whatsomepoststructuralist tothe orwholookbeyondtheintertext ofintertext a broaderconception prefer to whatMichelFoucaultcalls textualproduction: socialframework regulating communiwhatStanleyFishcalls"theinterpretive "thediscursive formation," ty,"and whatPatriciaBizzell calls "thediscoursecommunity." is a groupof individualsboundby a common A "discoursecommunity" whocommunicate interest through approvedchannelsandwhosediscourseis Intertextuality and theDiscourseCommunity 39 regulated. Anindividual maybelongtoseveralprofessional, public,orpersonal discoursecommunities.Examples would include the communityof engineers whoseresearchareais fluidmechanics;alumnioftheUniversity of Michigan;Magnavoxemployees;the membersof the Porterfamily;and members of theIndianaTeachersof Writing. The approvedchannelswe can call "forums." Each forum hasa distinct andrulesgoverning history appropriatenessto whichmembers areobligedto adhere.Theserulesmaybe moreor less apparent, moreorlessinstitutionalized, moreorlessspecifictoeachcommunity. Examplesof forumsincludeprofessional publications likeRhetoric Review, English Journal, and Creative Computing;public media like NewsweekandRunner'sWorld;professional conferences (theannualmeeting of fluidpowerengineers, the4C's); companyboardmeetings; familydinner tables;and themonthly meetingof theIndianachapterof theIzaak Walton League. A discoursecommunity sharesassumptions aboutwhatobjectsareappropriateforexamination anddiscussion,whatoperating functions areperformed on thoseobjects,whatconstitutes "evidence"and"validity," andwhatformal conventionsare followed.A discoursecommunity mayhave a well-established ethos;oritmayhavecompeting factions andindefinite Itmaybe in boundaries. a "pre-paradigm" state(Kuhn),thatis, havingan ill-defined regulating system and no clearleadership.Some discoursecommunities are firmly established, suchas thescientific community, themedicalprofession, andthejusticesystem,to cite a fewfromFoucault'slist. In thesediscoursecommunities, as Leitchsays,"a speakermustbe 'qualified'totalk;hehastobelongtoa communityof scholarship; andhe is requiredto possessa prescribed bodyofknowledge (doctrine).. . . [This system]operatesto constraindiscourse;it establishes limitsandregularities. . . . whomayspeak,whatmaybe spoken, andhowitis tobe said;inaddition[rules]prescribe whatis trueandfalse,what is reasonableandwhatfoolish,andwhatis meantandwhatnot.Finally,they workto denythematerialexistenceof discourseitself'(145). A textis "acceptable"within a forum thecommunionlyinsofar as itreflects tyepisteme(to use Foucault'sterm).On a simplelevel,thismeansthatfora manuscript tobe acceptedforpublication intheJournalofAppliedPsychology, itmustfollowcertainformatting conventions: Itmusthavetheexpectedsocial sciencesections(i.e., reviewofliterature, methods, results, discussion), andit mustuse thejournal'sversionofAPAdocumentation. However,theseareonly of theforum.On a moreessentiallevel,themanuscript superficial features mustrevealcertaincharacteristics, have an ethos(in thebroadestpossible tothestandards sense)conforming ofthediscoursecommunity: Itmustdemonstrate(oratleastclaim)thatitcontributes tothefield,itmustdemknowledge 40 RhetoricReview onstrate familiarity withtheworkofpreviousresearchers in thefield,itmust inanalyzing usea scientific method itsresults (showingacceptance ofthetruthvalueof statistical demonstration), itmustmeetstandards fortestdesignand analysisofresults, itmustadheretostandards determining degreeofaccuracy. Theexpectations, conventions, andattitudes ofthisdiscourse community-the readers,writers, andpublishers ofJournalofAppliedPsychology-will influenceaspiring psychology researchers, shapingnotonlyhowtheywritebutalso theircharacter withinthatdiscoursecommunity. thatwriting is Thepoststructuralist viewchallenges theclassicalassumption a simplelinear,one-waymovement: createsa textwhichproduces The writer rhetoric somechangein an audience.A poststructuralist examineshowaudience(intheformofcommunity expectations andstandards) influences textual production and, in so doing,guidesthedevelopment of thewriter. foritsapparent This view is of courseopen to criticism for determinism, devaluingthecontribution ofindividual writers andmakingthemappearmerelytoolsofthediscoursecommunity (chargeswhichFoucaultanswersin"Disareso constraining, courseonLanguage").Iftheseregulating systems howcan an individual merge?Whathappenstotheideaoftheloneinspired writer and text? thesacredautonomous is difficult within Bothnotionstakea pretty hardknock.Genuineoriginality theconfines ofa well-regulated system.Geniusis possible,butitmaybe constrained.Foucaultcitestheexampleof GregorMendel,whoseworkin the was excludedfromtheprevailing ofbiologists nineteenth century community andplacedhimself within a becausehe "spokeofobjects,employedmethods theoreticalperspectivetotallyalien to the biology of his time. . . . Mendel spokethetruth, buthe was notdans le vrai(withinthetrue)"(224). Frank RobertFrost Lentricchia citesa similarexamplefromtheliterary community: "achievedmagazinepublication onlyfivetimesbetween1895and 1912,a periofpoemslateracclaimed. . . [because]in od duringwhichhe wrotea number thedominant senseofthepoeticintheUnitedStatesinthe ordertowritewithin decadeofthetwentieth, one lastdecadeofthenineteenth andthefirst century had to employa diction,syntax,and prosodyheavilyfavoring Shelleyand Tennyson.One also had to assumea certainstance,a certainworld-weary totheworldofwhichone idealismwhichtookcarenottorefertooconcretely was weary"(197, 199). Bothexamplespointto theexclusionary powerof discoursecommunities of thewriter: does the and raiseseriousquestionsaboutthefreedom chiefly, Can anytextbe saidtobe writer haveany?Is anywriter doomedtoplagiarism? a creative andgeniusactuallypossible?WasJefferson new?Arecreativity genius or a blatantplagiarist? Intertextuality and theDiscourseCommunity 41 we wanttoavoidbothextremes. Evenifthewriter is lockedintoa Certainly culturalmatrix andis constrained bytheintertext ofthediscoursecommunity, thewriter has freedom withintheimmediate rhetorical context.4 Furthermore, successful writing helpstoredefine thematrix-andinthatwaybecomescreative.(Jefferson's Declaration contributed todefining thenotionofAmericafor itsdiscoursecommunity.) Everynewtexthas thepotential to altertheTextin someway;infact,everytextadmitted intoa discoursecommunity changesthe of thecommunity-and constitution discoursecommunities can revisetheir discursivepractices,as theMendeland Frostexamplessuggest. is an attempt Writing toexercisethewill,toidentify theselfwithin theconstraints of somediscoursecommunity. insofaras we must We areconstrained inevitably borrowthetraces,codes,andsignswhichwe inherit andwhichour discoursecommunity imposes.We are freeinsofaras we do whatwe can to encounter andlearnnewcodes,tointertwine codesinnewways,andtoexpand oursemioticpotential-with ourgoal beingtoeffect changeandestablishour identities withinthediscoursecommunities we chooseto enter. The Pedagogyof Intertextuality is notnew.It mayremindsomeofEliot'snotionoftradition, Intertextuality though theparameters Itis an important arecertainly broader. concept,though. Itcounters whatI see as oneprevailing composition a pedagogy,onefavoring romantic imageofthewriter, offering as rolemodelsthecreativeessayists, the SundaySupplementfreelancers, the JoanDidions, E. B. Whites,Calvin Trillins,andRussellBakers.Thisdashingimageappealstoourneedforintellectualheroes;butunderlying itmaybe an anti-rhetorical view:thatwriters are is individual, born,notmade;thatwriting notsocialbut isolated,andinternal; eccentric. This view is firmly set in theintertext of our discipline.Our anthologies theindividual glorify essayists,whoseworkis valuedforitstimelessness and creativity. Freshman rhetorics announceas thewriter's propergoals personal insight,originality, and personalvoice, or tellstudents thatmotivations for writingcome from"within."Generally, thispedagogyassumesthatsuch a thingas thewriteractuallyexists-an autonomouswriterexercisinga free, creativewill through thewriting act-and thatthewriting processproceeds fromwriter to texttoreader.Thispartialpictureoftheprocesscan all linearly too readilybecomethepicture,and ourstudents can all too readilylearnto overlookvitalfacetsof discourseproduction. Whenwe romanticize theautonomy composition byoveremphasizing ofthe writer, important questionsareoverlooked, thesamequestionsan intertextual 42 RhetoricReview viewof writing wouldprovoke:To whatextentis thewriter's productitselfa partofa largercommunity writing process?How doesthediscoursecommunityinfluence writers andreaderswithin it?Theseareessentialquestions, butare perhapsoutsidethe prevailingepistemeof compositionpedagogy,which presupposes theautonomous statusofthewriter as independent cogito. Talking thewriter" aboutwriting interms of"socialforcesinfluencing raisesthespecter of determinism, and so is anathema. David Bartholomae summarizes thisissueverynicely:"The struggle ofthe studentwriteris notthestruggle to bringout thatwhichis within;it is the struggle tocarryoutthoseritualactivities thatgrantourentrance intoa closed society"(300). Whenwe teachwriting onlyas theactof"bringing outwhatis within," we riskundermining ourownefforts. Intertextuality reminds us that out ritualactivities"is also partof thewritingprocess.Barthes "carrying reminds us that"the'I' whichapproaches thetextis alreadyitselfa plurality of othertexts,of codes whichare infinite" (10). Intertextuality suggests thatourgoalshouldbe tohelpstudents learntowrite forthediscoursecommunities needhelpdeveloptheychoosetojoin. Students ingoutof whatJosephWilliamscalls their"pre-socialized cognitivestates." toWilliams,pre-socialized writers arenotsufficiently immersed in According theirdiscoursecommunity toproducecompetent discourse:Theydo notknow of whatcan be presupposed, arenotconsciousofthedistinctive intertextuality withexplicitconventions. thecommunity, maybe onlysuperficially acquainted (Williamscitestheexampleofthefreshman whosepaperfortheEnglishteacher begins"Shakespeareis a famousElizabethandramatist.") Our immediate whoarefull-fledged members oftheir goal is to produce"socializedwriters," thatcomdiscoursecommunity, producing competent, usefuldiscoursewithin thosewho munity. Our long-range goal mightbe "post-socialized writers," in haveachievedsucha degreeofconfidence, authority, power,orachievement thediscoursecommunity so as tobecomepartoftheregulating body.Theyare able to varyconventions and questionassumptions-i.e.,effectchangein fearof exclusion. communities-without Intertextuality has thepotential toaffectall facetsofourcomposition pedaas a mechanism for gogy.Certainly it supports writing acrossthecurriculum It introducing students to theregulating systemsof discoursecommunities. raisesquestionsaboutheuristics: Do different discoursecommunities apply different It assertsthevalueof criticalreadingin thecomposition heuristics? our ideas aboutplagiarism:Certainly classroom.It requiresthatwe rethink of thewriter. imitatiois an important stagein thelinguistic development The mostsignificant applicationmightbe in theareaof audienceanalysis. Current pedagogiesassumethatwhenwriters analyzeaudiencestheyshould and theDiscourseCommunity Intertextuality 43 focuson theexpectedflesh-and-blood readers.Intertextuality suggests thatthe properfocusofaudienceanalysisis nottheaudienceas receivers perse, butthe intertext of thediscoursecommunity. Insteadof collectingdemographic data aboutage, educationallevel, and social status,thewritermightinsteadask questionsabouttheintertext: Whataretheconventional presuppositions ofthis community? In whatforums do theyassemble?Whatarethemethodological assumptions? Whatis considered "evidence,""validargument," and"proof'? A sampleheuristic forsuch an analysis-whatI term"forumanalysis"-is includedas an appendix. A criticalreadingof thediscourseofa community maybe thebestwayto understand it. (We see a versionof thismessagein theadviceto examinea articlesforpublication.) journalbeforesubmitting Traditionally, anthologies haveprovided students withreadingmaterial. However,thetypicalanthologies havetwoseriousproblems:(1) limitedrange-generally theyoveremphasize remove or expressivediscourse;(2) unclearcontext-theyfrequently literary theirintertextual nature. readingsfromtheiroriginalcontexts, thusdisguising toprovidea broaderselecSeveralrecently publishedreadershaveattempted tion of readingsin variousforums,and actuallydiscuss intertextuality. intheLiberal Maimon'sReadingsintheArtsandSciences,Kinneavy'sWriting areespeciallynoteworthy. ArtsTradition, andBazerman's TheInformed Writer Ifweregard eachwritintertextual. Writing assignments shouldbe explicitly tenproductas a stagein a largerprocess-thedialecticprocesswithina diswriter's coursecommunity-then theindividual workis partofa web,partofa community searchfortruth andmeaning.Writing assignments mighttakethe inresponsetoarticles formofdialoguewithotherwriters: letters is one Writing kind of dialectic(e.g., lettersresponding to AtlanticMonthlyor Science articles).Researchassignments might be morecommunity oriented rather than topicoriented; students mightbe askedtobecomeinvolvedincommunities of in researchers (e.g., thesociologistsexamining changingreligiousattitudes inMaimon'sWriting Americancollegestudents). The assignments intheArts and Sciencesare excellentin thisregard. Intertextual thatthekeycriteria forevaluating should theory suggests writing inbe "acceptability" withinsome discoursecommunity. "Acceptability" It includes cludes,butgoes well beyond,adherenceto formalconventions. theappropriate criticalmethodology, adchoosingthe"right"topic,applying heringto standardsforevidenceand validity,and in generaladoptingthe discoursevalues-and of course borrowingthe appropriate community's traces.Successis measured bythewriter's abilitytoknowwhatcanbe presuptraceseffectively to createa textthat posed and to borrowthatcommunity's to themaintenance of thecommunity. contributes or,possibly,thedefinition 44 RhetoricReview andbyitsintertextual preferences Thewriter is constrained bythecommunity, writer worksto assertthewillagainstthose and prejudices,buttheeffective community constraints to effectchange. usesof andtheKentStatenewsarticleshoweffective ThePepsicommercial the intertext. In the Kent State piece, JohnKifnermixespicnicimagery ("burst ("grassycampusgathering spot,""youngpeople")withviolentimagery combinetwounlikely ofgunfire") todramatize theevent.ThePepsiad writers Americanimagery withsci-fiimsetsof traces,linking folksydepression-era of traces,both agery"stolen"fromSpielberg.For thiscreativeintertwining forums. discoursescan probablybe measuredsuccessfulin theirrespective Coda supportsis alreadyinstitutionalized Clearlymuchof whatintertextuality programs).And yet,in freshman comp (e.g., writing-across-the-curriculum to as there is this tendency see writing individtextsandanthologies especially, thatthe demonstrating quiteconvincingly ual, as isolated,as heroic.Evenafter froma culturalintertext, borrowing Declarationwas written bya teamfreely ElaineMaimoninsists,againstall theevidencesheherself hascollected,that andchangesinwording thatitwentthrough, "Despitetheadditions, deletions, the Declarationis stillJefferson's writing"(Readings26). Her sayingthis presupposesthatthereaderhasjustconcludedtheopposite. romantic rolemodelslike E. B. White,Joan Whenwe give ourstudents expectations. This typeof Didion,and Lewis Thomas,we createunrealistic statuswithin somediscourse commuwriter hasoftenachievedpost-socialized forinstance).Can we realistically nity(Thomasin thescientific community, first toachievethisstatewithout becoming socialized,withexpectourstudents out learningfirstwhatit meansto writewithina social context?Theirrole like heroesbutalso community writers modelsoughtnotbe onlyromantic ofthePepsicommercial-theAdsosofthe writers theanonymous Jefferson, whoseproducts aremore world,notjusttheAristotles. Theyneedtosee writers evidently partofa largerprocessandwhoseworkmoreclearlyproducesmeaning in social contexts. Notes too simplistically are discussedby Owen Millerin 'The dangersof defining intertextuality "Intertextual Identity," Identity oftheLiterary Text,ed. MarioJ.ValdesandOwenMiller(Toronto: of U ofTorontoP,1985), 19-40.Millerpointsoutthatintertextuality "addressesitselftoa plurality concepts"(19). Intertextuality and theDiscourseCommunity 45 2Forfullerdiscussionsee Jonathan Culler,The Pursuitof Signs (Ithaca:CornellUP, 1981), ofpresupposition 100-16.MichaelHallidayelaborates onthetheory somewhat, too,differentiating relieson Themeaning ofanytextatleastpartly betweenexophoric andendophoric presupposition. intheform Endophoric references ofcohesive exophoric references, i.e., external presuppositions. meaning, butcohesionina textdependsultimately devicesandconnections within a textalso affect thatmaynotbe cuedby on theaudiencemakingexophoric connections topriortexts,connections explicitcohesivedevices. See M. A. K. Hallidayand RuqaiyaHasan, Cohesionin English (London:Longman,1976). 3Millercautionsus aboutintertextuality andposthoc ergopropterhoc reasoning.All we can Whether ornot earlierdocuments. safelynoteis thatphrasesintheDeclaration also appearinother, on Jefferson's thepriordocuments "caused"the theborrowing was intentional partor whether Declaration(in anysenseof theword)is notascertainable. 4RobertScholesputsit thisway:"If you playchess,you can onlydo certainthingswiththe tellyouwhat do notinthemselves pieces,otherwise youarenotplayingchess.Butthoseconstraints movesto make."See TextualPower(New Haven:Yale UP, 1985), 153. WorksCited Barthes,Roland.SIZ. Trans.RichardMiller.New York:Hill and Wang,1974. David. "WritingAssignments: WhereWriting Begins."fforum.Ed. PatriciaL. Bartholomae, Stock.UpperMontclair, NJ:Boynton/Cook, 1983. Bazerman,Charles.TheInformed 2nded. Boston:HoughtonMifflin,1985. Writer. 2nded. New York:Random,Vintage,1942. Becker,Carl. TheDeclarationofIndependence. andCertainty: WhatWeNeedtoKnowaboutWriting." Bizzell,Patricia."Cognition, Convention, PREITEXT3 (1982): 213-43. Culler,Jonathan. ThePursuitofSigns. Ithaca:CornellUP, 1981. Dumbauld,Edward.TheDeclarationofIndependence. 2nded. Norman:U ofOklahomaP, 1968. BraceJovanoEco, Umberto. TheNameoftheRose. Trans.WilliamWeaver.San Diego:Harcourt vich, 1983. Fish, Stanley.Is Therea Textin ThisClass? Cambridge:HarvardUP, 1980. Foucault,Michel.TheArchaeology ofKnowledgeand theDiscourseon Language.Trans.A. M. SheridanSmith.New York:Harper& Row, 1972. Halliday,M. A. K. Explorations in theFunctionsofLanguage.New York:Elsevier,1973. Halliday,M. A. K., and RuqaiyaHasan. Cohesionin English.London:Longman,1976. Kifner,John."4 KentStateStudentsKilledby Troops."New YorkTimes5 May 1970: 1. 1971. Kinneavy,JamesL. A TheoryofDiscourse.EnglewoodCliffs:Prentice-Hall, in theLiberalArtsTradition.New York:Harper& Row, 1985. ---,et al. Writing 2nded. Chicago:U ofChicagoP. 1970. Kuhn,ThomasS. TheStructure ofScientific Revolutions. Leitch,VincentB. Deconstructive Criticism.New York:CornellUP, 1983. Lentricchia, Frank.AftertheNew Criticism.Chicago:U of ChicagoP, 1980. Maimon,ElaineP, et al. Readingsin theArtsand Sciences.Boston:Little,Brown,1984. ---. Writing in theArtsand Sciences.Cambridge:Winthrop, 1981. Miller,Owen. "Intertextual Identity." Identity oftheLiterary Text.Ed. MarioJ.ValdesandOwen Miller.Toronto:U of TorontoP, 1985, 19-40. Scholes,Robert.TextualPower.New Haven:Yale UP, 1985. Williams,Joseph."CognitiveDevelopment, CriticalThinking, and theTeachingof Writing." Conference on Writing, of Chicago, 15 Meaning,and HigherOrderReasoning,University May 1984. 46 Rhetoric Review APPENDIX ForumAnalysis Background -Identifytheforumby nameand organizational affiliation. ofbelief?What orexpression -Is therean expressededitorial policy,philosophy, purposedoes theforumserve?Whydoes itexist? -What is thedisciplinary orientation? -How largeis theforum?Who are itsmembers? Its leaders?Its readership? -In whatmanner does theforum assemble(e.g., newsletter, journal,conference, weeklymeeting)?How frequently? -What is theoriginof theforum?Whydid itcome intoexistence?Whatis its history? Its politicalbackground? Its traditions? -What reputation doestheforum haveamongitsownmembers? Howis itregarded by others? DiscourseConventions WhoSpeakslWrites? -Who is granted Whodecideswhospeaks/writes inthe statusas speaker/writer? are speakers/writers forum?By whatcriteria selected? -What kindofpeoplespeak/write inthisforum? Credentials? Disciplinary orientation?Academicor professional background? -Who aretheimportant is most figures inthisforum? Whoseworkorexperience frequently cited? -What are theimportant sourcescitedin theforum?Whatare thekeyworks, of theforumknow? thatit is assumedmembers events,experiences To WhomDo TheySpeaklWrite? -Who is addressedin theforum?Whatare thecharacteristics of theassumed audience? -What are theaudience'sneedsassumedto be? To whatuse(s) is theaudience expectedto puttheinformation? -What is theaudience'sbackground assumedto be? Levelofproficiency, experiCredentials? ence, and knowledgeof subjectmatter? -What are thebeliefs,attitudes, values,prejudicesof theaddressedaudience? WhatDo TheySpeaklWrite About? -What topicsor issuesdoes theforumconsider?Whatare allowablesubjects? Whattopicsare valued? or methodologies -What methodology areaccepted?Whichtheoretical approach or induction is preferred: deduction(theoretical argumentation) (evidence)? -What constitutes "validity," "evidence,"and"proof'intheforum (e.g., personal experience/observation, testingand measurement,theoreticalor statistical analysis)? It? How Do TheySaylWrite Form -What typesofdiscoursedoestheforum admit(e.g., articles,reviews,speeches, poems)?How longare thediscourses? -What are thedominant modesof organization? Intertextuality and theDiscourseCommunity 47 -What formatting conventions arepresent:headings,tablesandgraphs,illustra-tions,abstracts? Style -What documentation form(s)is used? -Syntactic characteristics? -Technical or specializedjargon?Abbreviations? -Tone? Whatstancedo writers/speakers takerelativeto audience? -Manuscriptmechanics? Other Considerations? atFort ofEnglishatIndianaUniversity-Purdue JamesE. Porter is Assistant Professor University composition, technicalwriting, Wayne,wherehe teachesfreshman and graduaterhetoric. His researchfocuseson theconnections criticaltheory, betweenpoststructuralist historical rhetoric, and contemporary notionsof audienceand audienceanalysis.He has publishedin Journalof TeachingWriting,in RhetoricReview,and in the RhetoricSocietypublicationOldspeakl a bookentitled Newspeak:Rhetorical Transformations. He is currently completing Contemporary TheoriesofAudience.