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The concept of intertextuality derives from the view of a literary work as a text whose richness of meaning results from its location in a potentially infinite network of other texts. In its radical form, intertextuality may be considered a fundamental condition of literature, of discourse, or of any writing (Derrida 1967). If one considers musical works as texts, one may find analogous relationships suggesting a similar immersion in musical discourses. I will argue, however, for a different construal of the concept of intertextuality for music, one which will balance the competing demands of interrelatedness and individuality of music works, as well as clarify the varieties of intertextual relationships possible in music.
The concept of intertextuality applies equally to author and reader (composer and listener). Creation and interpretation are both constrained and enriched by the universe of discourse established by earlier texts. In the case of the reader (listener), we may include later texts as well. But according to the radical intertextuality, no single text is unique or can occupy a privileged position with respect to any other, since the intertwined strands of discourse woven through and beyond the work take on such importance that either the work shrinks to a mere node in the network, or the work as text expands to embrace the vastness of its interrelationships with other texts. Text begins to conjure up the vision of an Emersonian oversoul, but one which lacks a compensatory respect for the individuality of the work.
In practice, literary theorists such as Laurent Jenny, Michael Riffaterre, and Gérard Genette often select specific intertexts from the larger universe of discourse in order to pursue an analytical interpretation of a central work. Their success, as Ross Chambers (1984) has pointed out, is purchased at the expense of a theoretical inconsistency: the closed set of intertexts limits the openness of infinite intertextuality posited by the theory in its purest (radical) form.
In order to avoid the infinite regress of radical intertextuality, yet preserve the richness of the notion of a work as a text, one needs to characterize the different kinds of context which are being invoked. For the study of music, I would distinguish the contexts of style and strategy as regulators of relevant intertextual relationships. By...