An Intertextual Reading Of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt(1963-)is a celebrated American writer with three masterpieces published so far.The year of 2013 witnessed the publication of her third novel The Goldfinch,which took her eleven years' hard work.The novel was a success ever since its appearance,being selected as the 2013 Best Novel of the Year by Amazon and winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2014.It gives a picturesque account of the protagonist Theodore Decker's growth in the first person,whose fate intermingles with a precious Dutch painting.Based on intertextuality theory,mostly of Julia Kristeva and Gerard Genette,this thesis attempts to explore the intertextual relationship of the text with other literary texts,between fiction and visual art,between fiction and social realities,and within the author's own literary works and even the novel itself,which might help readers have a better understanding of the novel.With the narrative strategy of intertextuality,the novel exposes social problems and makes strong criticism of contemporary American society.This thesis consists of three parts,namely,introduction,the main body and conclusion.The introduction gives an overall presentation of the author,the novel,literature review,theoretical framework and thesis structure.The main body is made up of three chapters.Chapter One analyzes the intratextuality,or internal intertextuality of the novel.The novel's paratexts including its cover,title,chapter titles,dedications build upon an interplay within the novel.Besides,The Secret History,Donna Tartt's first novel,is borrowed as a peritext for comparison of the similar scenes and recurrent characters with The Goldfinch.Moreover,the fates of main characters intermingle with the fate of the Dutch painting.An intratextual reading of the novel shows that it builds upon a continuous cross-references within the novel and among Tartt's other works.In this way Tartt emphasizes the unity and wholeness of the novel.Chapter Two focuses on the novel's literary intertextuality with traditional English literature,including its parody of Bildungsroman(coming-of-age novel)and a number of direct and indirect quotations from previous texts.As Tartt points out in an interview,her creations are deeply influenced by Charles Dickens,Allen Poe and some other writers.These quotations and parodies play a positive role in characterization and motif deepening in her novel.With the method of intertextuality,Tartt establishes a close relationship between her own works and literary traditions.Chapter Three demonstrates the intertextual relationship of the novel and non-literary texts including history,social realities and visual art.Tartt expresses her criticism on terrorism and her viewpoints on adolescent problems in the novel.The rich intertextual references in the novel show the author's concern for the problems of American society and appeal public attention to social issues.In addition,Tartt expresses her affection for visual art and describes about nearly forty paintings in this novel for characterization and atmosphere building.The thesis reaches the conclusion that intertextuality is one of the main features of The Goldfinch and the strategy of intertextuality is also proved to be an effective tool to help readers have a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the novel.