Interpreting The Inevitability Of Willie’s Tragic Destiny From The Perspective Of Intertextuality

All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, a famous American literary giant, is anovel which recounts the dictatorial government in the American South. Firstpublished in1946, it won the Pulitzer Prize in1947and was adapted for movie in1949. It is generally acknowledged as a classic of contemporary American literaturebecause of its profound cultural connotation and distinguished artistic attraction, andthe life of its protagonist, Willie Stark, is an excellent picture of American ideologyand value.Intertextuality, a term coined by French poststructuralist semiotician Julia Kristeva,means that any text is the absorption and transformation of pretexts. Revealing thegeneral multi-dimensional connection between texts, intertextuality starts a newangle of literary criticism. The development of an individual’s destiny is just like anintertext which constitutes a number of intertwining fragments in life. Diachronicallyspeaking, the development of an individual’s destiny results from the interactionamong family background, educational experiences and growth; synchronicallyspeaking, the development of an individual’s destiny could not break lose from therestriction of the times in which he lives, and the mode of thought and socialbehavior stemming from those diachronic experiences. The intertext of anindividual’s lifetime demonstrates the interrelationship between past experiences andpresent circumstances, and the intersection of diachronic experiences and synchroniccircumstances is the demonstration of an individual’s present life.Therefore, in the sense mentioned above, interpreting the development of Willie’stragic destiny from the perspective of intertextuality is a breakthrough in literarycriticism. This analytical approach is beneficial to the exploration of the inherent egoin Willie’s tragic life, and American history and culture, interpreting vividly andthree-dimensionally the inevitability of Willie’s tragic destiny which is due todiachronic and synchronic factors, thus enabling readers to look objectively at thepast and the present of American society, and to get an effective cross-cultural communicative access in the process of observing and experiencing American life.