French Literature Reviews - 2026

A.-C. Gignoux, Introduction to Intertextuality
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Anne-Claire Gignoux, Introduction à l'intertextualité
Ellipses, Collection: "Thèmes & études", 2005, 156 p.
ISBN: 2729821872

EAN: 9782729821876
13 €

Publisher's overview:

Introduced some thirty years ago, the concept of intertextuality is currently used across a wide range of fields, from comparative literature and linguistics to stylistics and poetics. This multiplicity of approaches has created a challenging tool for students, who often struggle with varied—and sometimes contradictory—definitions, as well as an occasionally elusive subject matter. This introduction aims to help readers grasp the value of the concept while providing a practical tool for analyzing texts and language. To this end, the first part of the book explores the history of intertextuality, outlining the theories developed over the past three decades around the neologism coined in 1961, while respecting their diversity and highlighting their common stakes. This clarifying effort reveals the richness of the concept while urging caution in its application. With these precautions in place, the book examines the field of intertextuality through its most compelling and fruitful practices for the study of literary texts, adopting a pragmatic and stylistic perspective. Intertextuality operates on multiple levels: within texts, through quotation, reference, allusion, pastiche, parody, and mise en abyme, but also around texts, through textual genetics, commentary and criticism, architextuality (the relation of a text to its genre), and the intersemiotics of the arts. The final section focuses on a narrower concept, that of rewriting, which shares characteristics with intertextuality without being synonymous with it, and outlines a typology of different forms of rewriting.

Author Biography
Anne-Claire Gignoux holds a PhD in Literature and is an agrégée professor. She teaches grammar and stylistics at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne.

Intertextuality is a cornerstone of modern literary theory, bridging comparative literature, stylistics, and linguistics by examining how texts intersect, echo, and transform one another. Originally coined in the twentieth century, the term encompasses a broad array of devices ranging from explicit quotation and allusion to parody, pastiche, and structural framing. By tracing the evolution of these concepts, Anne-Claire Gignoux provides readers with a structured framework to navigate divergent critical traditions while maintaining analytical precision when approaching complex literary works.

This accessible volume is especially valuable for students and researchers in French and comparative literature seeking to ground their textual analysis in sound methodology. The second half of the book translates theory into practice by detailing concrete manifestations of textual dialogue, including architextuality and intersemiotic relationships with the visual arts. Concluding with a targeted examination of rewriting, the study serves as an essential resource for anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of how contemporary literature borrows from, rewrites, and reinterprets prior traditions.