THE CATEGORY OF INTERTEXTUALITY IN A CONTEMPORARY DETECTIVE NOVEL (BASED ON THE NOVEL “TROUBLED BLOOD” BY R. GALBRAITH)

Abstract

New forms of intertextuality are constantly being discovered in fiction, which requires a common methodological basis for its analysis. A brief overview of English-language detective stories shows that intertextuality in this genre can be realized in different forms and perform various functions. The leading research method of the study is interpretive analysis of the links between the quoting and quoted texts. A great number of quotations used as epigraphs to the novel “Troubled Blood” by R. Galbraith, gives grounds to assert that the book contains two texts, which inevitably makes the reader compare them, identify analogies, similarities and differences. The analysis of interaction of the texts that are different in time, themes and genres but are united in one artistic whole plays a significant role in interpreting R. Galbraith’s novel, understanding its characters, themes, plot lines, solving the novel’s intrigue. Comparing epigraphs and corresponding chapters of the novel gives grounds to conclude that there are two variants of their correlation - correspondence at the level of the content and contrast at the level of the form. Intertextuality of the novel under study demonstrates synthesis of genres, functional styles, ideological and imaginative standards, which becomes the basis for the work’s structure, creates a dialogue of different eras, cultures, literary traditions.