Bakhtin’s Dialogism, Intertextual Theories and Neo-Victorian Fiction

Abstract

The article analyzes varying approaches to intertextuality in the light of the recurring interest in neo-Victorian literature. It places a special emphasis on Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogism and Gérard Genette’s treatment of intertextuality, which appear to constitute suitable tools for studying the relations between the Victorian and neo-Victorian texts. Essentially, Genette’s intertextual perspective offers a stable classification of texts based on the notion of “architextual network” and, at the same time, is not confined to a “closed system”. While discussing the issue of intertextuality, I also briefly introduce the work done by such Polish scholars as: Michał Głowiński, Ryszard Nycz or Henryk Markiewicz. I especially draw on Nycz’s division of intertextual relations: “text–text”, “text–genre” and “text–reality”. Nycz’s theoretical proposal seems to be appropriate for the study of the Victorian and neo-Victorian novel, as intertextuality in the neo-Victorian texts can be found not only on the textual, but also on the generic and cultural level. It seems that neo-Victorian fiction deserves a special place in modern literary studies: not only does it offer a literary vision of the Victorian world, but also verifies the current, socio-cultural portrayals of this bygone era, thus, providing a commentary on our present-day world as well.