Intertexuality:
Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined by poststructuralist Julia Kristeva in 1966. As critic William Irwin says, the term “has come to have almost as many meanings as users, from those faithful to Kristeva’s original vision to those who simply use it as a stylish way of talking about allusion and influence.” or The word intertextuality refers to when an author or artist borrows ideas or refrences to the work of others.When someone uses intertextualitly, they are using an idea they have previously encountered and incorporate it into their own work. Sometimes when an author or an artist chooses to use intertextuality they may only slightly hint to another piece of work to get their point across. They leave it up to the reader to decide if the piece they are reading is completely original or has actually adopted bits and pieces from something else. Other times an author or artist may be heavy handed in the use of intertextuality to make sure their audience receives their message. With the help of the piece an author or artist is borrowing from the audience becomes able to draw a parallel to what they are reading at the moment to something they are familiar with from the past. This gives the audience a better understanding and the ability to interpret what they are reading or witnessing. When using intertextuality someone may refer to more than just literature they may also refer to movies, music, books, speeches or any other pieces of material that the author deems useful. Intertextuality is used so that something can be better understood or interpreted by the audience due to the fact that they may be familiar with the piece an author/artist refers to in his or her work. Intertextuality is used to give more depth to a piece and take something that is widely known and has meant so much that it has made its mark in the world and become familiar to almost every generation. One person who has used intertextuality to their benefit is William Shakespeare, who has made a number of references to the bible.

Literary Example
One of the best examples of intertextuality in literature is the retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet in the story of Maria and Tony in West Side Story. West Side Story is a slightly modern twist on the classic Romeo & Juliet. Maria like Juliet has a forbidden romance with Tony who like Romeo comes from a family who does not wish to associate themselves with Maria's kind. This pair of star crossed lovers eventually both end in tragedy but in the end find a small measure of peace. Jerome Robins who is the creator of West Side Story used intertextuality by referring heavily to Shakespeare's tragedy of Romeo & Juliet.