This book is a comprehensive introduction to the idea of intertextuality and the debates surrounding it. Mary Orr focuses on the four key thinkers whose work has been central to these debates - Kristeva, Barthes, Bloom and Genette - and, with an innovative perspective, guides the reader through the original texts of each of them. Of special importance is the author's reading of Kristeva's Semeiotikè. Orr's investigation takes a fresh approach to the rival French critics who also worked on intertexuality (Angenot, Derrida, Girard and Ricoeur) and tackles the 'language' of intertextuality, shining new light on some of the terminology most commonly associated with this concept.

In this innovative and rigorous analysis of intertextuality, Mary Orr presents the reader with her own subtle and nuanced view. She has created an engaging book which will become the standard work on this subject.