Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
5. Uluslararası Dil ve Çeviribilim Kongresi, Baku, Azerbaycan, 24 - 26 Eylül 2025, ss.1-16, (Özet Bildiri)
Intertextuality,
as one of the central concepts of postmodern literary theory, enables the
analysis of multi-layered relationships that shape the meaning of a text. This
approach explains how a text interacts with other texts, undergoes
transformation, and acquires new layers of meaning. Thus, a literary work is
not only interpreted within its own context but also through the dialogue it
establishes with prior texts. Intertextuality is realized through techniques
such as allusion, quotation, reference, parody, pastiche, collage, and montage,
forming a dynamic network of interactions among texts. These interactions
reveal how previous discourses are reshaped and recontextualized, opening up
new interpretive possibilities. When a text is reworked within another, it
revives its source, grants it continuity, and renders it open to diverse
interpretations. The purpose of this study is to examine the intertextual
connections in J. D. Salinger’s Nine Stories through the framework of
Gérard Genette’s concept transtextuality, the term he uses to describe
intertextual relationships. The analysis focuses on how elements derived from
novels, short stories, and other literary genres are recontextualized and
transformed into new narrative frameworks. Salinger’s Nine Stories
vividly reflects the psychological trauma and emotional exhaustion that marked
American society in the aftermath of World War II. The existential void and
uncertainty that emerged after the war compel characters to question both their
inner selves and social roles. The superficial comforts offered by modern life
obscure the search for authentic identity and distance individuals from their
true selves. The stories explore in depth the tension between society’s
expectations of success and status and the individual’s search for inner truth.
At the same time, they uncover the collective pain and the longing for
meaningful human connections hidden beneath post-war America’s drive for
prosperity and progress. Through their multi-layered structures, these narratives
powerfully convey the atmosphere of the period while articulating quests for
belonging, meaning, and emotional fulfilment. This study therefore demonstrates
how Salinger’s texts, read within the framework of intertextuality, function as
open and dialogic literary constructs that enrich both individual and
collective interpretations.