An Intertextual Study Of The Olympic Games Addresses

"Intertextuality" is a term coined by Julia Kristeva in Semiotics published in 1969. She holds the view that any text is the absorption and transformation of another. The theory of the intertextuality emphasizes the relationship between a text and other texts as well as the mutual influences of texts in terms of both form and content. With all the countries in the world communicating more in politics, economy and culture, etc. and people paying great attention to sports, the Olympic Games, as an international sports event, steps out from Europe and America to Asian countries including China. Jacques Rogge became the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president in 2001, and it was he that announced the opening and closing of the 28th Athens Olympic Games, the 29th Beijing Olympic Games and the 30th London Olympic Games. His Olympic Games Addresses (OGAes) mainly aim to be informative, persuasive, evocative and appreciative.This thesis mainly studies Jacques Rogge’s OGAes of the 28th Athens Olympic Games, the 29th Beijing Olympic Games and the 30th London Olympic Games with the purpose of analyzing the intertextual phenomena in his OGAes and their functions. The theoretical framework of the present study is based on the model of intertextuality put forward by Basil Hatim and Ian Mason combined with the manifest and constitutive intertextuality proposed by Norman Fairclough and the features of Jacques Rogge’s OGAes. The present study gives an intertextual analysis of Jacques Rogge’s OGAes in terms of language and discourse, and presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the intertextual categories in his OGAes, to reveal the important functions of appropriately using these intertextual skills and to summarize the features of his OGAes as well.Detailed analysis shows that Jacques Rogge adopts ten types of intertextual skills in his OGAes. For one thing, manifest intertextuality, including reference, cliche, proverb and idiom, and parody is used for the analysis in the surface structure of language. For another thing, constitutive intertextuality, including generic intertextuality, thematic/topical intertextuality, structural intertextuality, rhetorical intertextuality, stylistic intertextuality and functional intertextuality is used for the analysis in the deep structure of discourse. The appropriate use of intertextuality has a positive effect on Jacques Rogge’s OGAes. On the one hand, it can express meaning and achieve persuasiveness effectively. On the other hand, it helps enhance the aesthetic effect of the OGAes and helps the audience have a better understanding of the OGAes. Besides, the present study summarizes the features of Jacques Rogge’s OGAes as follows:(1) Jacques Rogge uses many cliches, rethorical devices and various genres in his OGAes; (2) Jacques Rogge imitates the style of the Bible in his OGAes; (3) Jacques Rogge prefers to use short, simple and complete sentences in his OGAes.The present study is of great help to understand the intertextual phenomena and their positive functions in Jacques Rogge’s OGAes, and can help shed light on the theory of intertextuality and the using of intertextual techniques in other fields.