Just listened to Sørina’s lecture on little loosed dragons, and then played “Synchronicity” by the Police. The result was a fascinating experience in parallels.
- Scientifically-dubious, early-twentieth-century Weltanschauung? Check.
- A #1 hit single about co-inherence? Check.
- Auto-intertextuality? Check.
- A baffling hypotext? Check.
- Dangerous giant reptiles? Check.
And, in a tour de force of seizing control of meaning from the author, I have always thought Miss Gradenko worked at the N.I.C.E., and C.S. Lewis left her out of That Hideous Strength because he didn’t have the chops to cover the electric guitar part properly.
P.S. For what it’s worth, I think Genette’s definition of “intertextuality” is useless. If I were going to define a sub-class of literature, I’d try to think of something that excluded at least one book. When anything that uses words is intertextual, why not just say “literary”?
P.P.S. The part where Prof. Higgins says the text isn’t really layered, but is actually woven of lots of threads — <dadjoke> you mean it’s a textile? </dadjoke>
Joe
P.P.P.S.: You can skip “Mother”. I’ve never understood what Stewart Copeland was trying to do with that.