This independent study utilises Julia Kristeva’s definition of intertextuality to trace its extent within narratives and popular songs. With the lack of popular music analysis within the field of English literature, this study not only justifies but encourages the study of song lyrics as a valid form of text. First, relying on Sarah Waters’ novel Affinity (1999) alongside Taylor Swift’s ‘ivy’ and Relient K’s ‘Be My Escape’, this study demonstrates the existence of intertextuality within professionally published narratives and popular songs. This stands as a support for the following chapters and their analysis of popular music alongside several different narrative forms.
After contemplating intertextuality in the form of pastiche, this study argues for the existence of two new sub-categorical forms – the direct pastiche and the soundtrack pastiche. Exploring F. Scott Fitzgerald’s prestigious novel The Great Gatsby (1925) and its hypertext ‘Young and Beautiful’ by Lana Del Rey, this study defines a soundtrack pastiche as being fuelled by a commission and commercial need. In contrast, as witnessed through Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘The Rocket Man’ and Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’, a direct pastiche is motivated by respect and demonstrated through homage, finesse and mimesis. Finally, considering fan studies and the impact of modern technology on intertextuality, an example of song-fic fanfiction is analysed for its reliance on multiple hypotexts.
With this study upturning a lack of research into popular music and its lyrics, it attempts to begin filling this gap and inspire new discussions in the literary field. When considering the thousands of songs released daily and the creative and critical skills necessary to write lyrics, there is little reason the study of popular music should be excluded from the scholarly field of English literature. It is time for the Western literary canon to adapt to the texts of the twenty-first century.
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