Intertextuality as a social and discursive process: an analysis of Editorial Notes

Abstract

It is surmised that an utterance can never be original (Liddicoat, et al., 2008) because it always refers to the past, extends to the future and relates other semantic processes (Lemke, 2002, 2009). The present study explores the intertextuality embodied in a widely-circulated magazine (Reader’s Digest), and from the data of 36 editorial notes (EN’s) published from 2008–2010, it was found that EN’s are a social-discursive instrument fulfilling the intertextual functions of the editors which further adhere to actional and heteroglossic intertextualities. After a thorough discussion, a framework of intertextuality-based analysis on EN’s and possibly, of all other discourses, is postulated.