Three Intertextual Sources In Carter’s Rewriting

Angela Carter is a writer known as "demythologizer," and as a female writer she enjoyed a world-known reputation---for a large amount of reason that Carter is interested in the shattering of myths, especially the male-centered myths about the female, the Western-centered myths about other cultures, and the white myths about the colored. Carter made her characters voice their own thoughts and live a life just as they like by push away the common sense and the so-called experience. She embodies her demythologization in different ways, the technology of intertextuality in particular. There are four types of intertextual devices mainly used in Carter’s fiction:quotation, allusion, parody, and collage. In this thesis, the present author studies three formats of Carter’s intertextual rewritings. The first one is, her retellings of classic European fairy tales and folklores; the second one is her re-readings of a number of famous extant manuscripts; the last is her reconstructions of many historical legends. Through deconstructing conventional works, accepted theories and principles, Carter tries to build the eclectic world view, which contains and accepts various thoughts, even these entirely different ideas. Every idea can equally communicate with others and there is no absolute right or wrong. In Carter’s mind, any boundary can be overstepped and the life is flowing and changeable. The present author further points out that on one hand, intertextuality plays an important role in Carter’s demythologizing attempts and enhances the charm of her works; on the other hand, it limits Carter’s imagination and multi-referential relations also cause obstacles to the process of reading.