Intertextuality in the digital age
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Date
2012Author
Koenig, Jean-Pierre
Coffee, Neil
Poornima, Shakthi
Ossewaarde, Roelant
Forstall, Christopher
Jacobson, Sarah
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This paper describes a new digital approach to intertextual study involving
the creation of a free online tool for the automatic detection of parallel
phrases. A test comparison of Vergil’s Aeneid and Lucan’s Civil War shows that
the tool can identify a substantial number of meaningful intertexts, both previously
recorded and unrecorded. Analysis of these results demonstrates how automatic
detection can provide more comprehensive and accessible perspectives
on intertextuality as an aggregate phenomenon. Identification of the language
features necessary to detect intertexts also provides a path toward improved automatic
detection and more precise definitions of intertextuality.