Media Language and Representation: Intertextuality

What is intertextuality?

Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. Intertextuality is a literary device that creates an 'interrelationship between texts' and generates related understanding in separate works. These references are made to influence the reader and add layers of depth to a text, based on the reader’s prior knowledge and understanding.

Hot Fuzz / Point Break

Family Guy / Taken

In the above clips meaning is only generated based on the required knowledge of the texts being referenced. This is intertextuaity at work.