| The term "intertextuality" was first coined by Julia Kristeva in 1966, based on Saussure's notion of linguistic sign and Bakhtin's theories of "dialogism" and "polyphony". It indicates that every text is a matter of literary convention and a reworking of pre-existent works. Oryx and Crake, the novel by "the Queen of Canadian Literature" Margaret Atwood, has been studied from diverse perspectives, rather than the above one. This paper is aimed at making a detailed analysis of the generic intertextuality in Oryx and Crake, mainly from the perspective of the dialogic ties with biblical stories, mythologies, legends, already existent works and within the novel itself, trying to show Atwood's remarkable remaking of the conventional literary modes for the subversive purpose. |
