Intertextuality In Awarded English Advertising

The present study investigates ten types of intertextual relationships in awarded English advertising to prove that appropriate usage of intertextuality can attribute to the success of advertising, that is, to arouse consumers' interest and to prompt their purchasing action. According to the theory of intertextuality, texts exist in a network of already established meanings. Authors would assemble already available meanings rather than produce new ones. From the aspect of readers, their understandings about the texts rely much on their knowledge of preexisted ones. Although advertising emphasizes on novelty and originality, no advertising designer can create an advertisement without recourse to the various existed ones. Thus intertextuality becomes an important technique in creating appealing and impressive advertisements.Based on the models proposed by Hatim and Lemke, we adopt a combined theoretical model and extend it to the analysis of the awarded advertisements. We show that all the relationships mentioned in the model can be traced in advertising. Different intertextual relationships have diverse impacts on the interpretation and effect of advertisements. Finally, we strongly suggest that Chinese advertisers assimilate this strategy into their own designs.