Universidad Nacional de San

Martin
Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa

Seminario de Posmodernidad

Docente: Patricia Green

Alumna: Virginia Vallina

Intertextuality in Exit Ghost

The typical postmodernist work of art is arbitrary, eclectic, hybrid, decentred,
fluid, discontinuous, pastiche-likei

This generalization, posed by Terry Eagleton, about postmodern art seems

suitable to introduce an important aspect of postmodern literature. Three of the
adjectives used in the quote eclectic, hybrid and pastiche-like point quite straight
forwardly to the intertextual nature of postmodern literature. This essay will delve into
the dialogic and intertextual nature of Exit Ghost by Phillip Roth as an example of
postmodern literature and the role that intertextuality plays in the novel.
However firstly it should be fully understood what these two concepts mean,
the kind of strategies they entail and how they are perceived in the text and why. Taking
the initial quote as a starting point, it can be observed that eclectic implies that the
concepts, ideas and features which embellish the work of art come from a variety of
sources, which result in hybridism. This patchwork of meanings and ideas become a
pastiche which can only be fully interpreted through a network of connections to other
works, artists and people from the real worldii i.e. the text cannot be conceived as self
sufficient and self referential, it has pieces attached to it which refer back to other
things.
The frontiers of a book are never clear-cut: beyond the title, the first lines,
and the last full stop, beyond its internal configuration and its autonomous form,
it is caught up in a system of references to other books, other texts, other
sentences: it is a node within a networkThe book is not simply the object that
one holds in ones hand Its unity is variable and relative.iii

As Foucault explains, the world of the book and the worlds of other literary
works are interconnected, which makes the book an object voluble, puzzle-like. New
meanings can be discovered continuously in the literary text and new connections may
be continually established. It is no longer possible to speak of a single voice, that of the
author, throughout the text. A variety of voices are represented so postmodernist
writers break down every conceivable boundary of discourse by fusing forms and
confusing different realms.iv The literary text does not present a single discourse but

rather a variety of discourse from different contexts which intermingle and contribute to
the dialogic nature of the textv. Bakthin defined this variety of discourses as
polyphonyvi, in other words a clash of different world views and social speech
diversity.vii
Although in Exit Ghost, the main characters that have a voice seem to belong
to the same social class, an intellectual middle- upper class; the variety of social speech
can be traced because there is a great generational and ideological gap between the
characters. At this point the dialogic nature of the text arises and the characters worlds
are enriched by the intrusion of these other world views. For example, Zuckerman
learns about the 2004 election in the USA due to the anti- Bush speech traceable in
Jamie and David and feels fascinated by their politically-biased world view. Intertextual
references to the real world of politics are noticeable in several moments in chapter 2
(especially at the beginning). The transworld identities mentioned are George Bush
(son), George Bush (father), Dick Chaney, Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, Roosevelt,
Eisenhower, Willkie, Nixon, Humphrey, Kennedy and Martin Luther Kingviii. These
political intrusions contribute to the understanding of the paranoia of the characters in
the novel. David and Jamie are paranoid about terrorism and what Bushs administration
may do to their way of life.
In addition Zuckerman regain his virility partially as a result of the ideological
clashes that occurred between himself and Kliman. Zuckerman believes that he has
regained something lost in his character: the virility of mind and spirit and desire and
intention and wanting to be with people again.ix This rebirth in his character is the
product of his encounter with other voices; Jamies voice which comes to him as sexual
and exotic and Klimans voice which strikes him as aggressive and urges him to oppose
him. Jamies discourse, in particular, intrudes Zuckermans subworld. He starts to
fantasize about her and this leads to the writing of a play in which she is the other voice
in the text.
Not only polyphony is shown by the differences in discourse among the
characters, but also there are many examples of hybrid discoursex. At the beginning
of the novel, Zuckerman explains the kind of medical procedure he is going to through
in New York. For this purpose, Zuckerman borrows a cataloguexi of medical terms.
Additionally, a catalogue of vocabulary from the realm of the literary theory may be

observed when Zuckerman reflects upon Lonoffs writing and also in Amy Bellettes
letter. The richness of Amys letter does not only lie in the social and literary critique
but also in its intertextual references. In the letter, a transworld identity is mentioned:
Ernest Hemingway. Furthermore Amys criticism towards journalism and literary
criticism and the damage they have done in works of art seems to allude to the essay
Against Interpretation by Susan Sontag. Sontag claims interpretation is the revenge of
the intellect upon artxii, which may imply that interpretation diminishes the value of the
art object and makes it more like a commodity. This view resembles Amys ideas
because she believes that literature is not used as a means to foster thought anymore and
that art interpretation has become more like a gossipxiii about the writer or just a
means to position the work of art as banal. These examples of hybrid discourse and
intertextuality appear to be used as a tool to foreground the metafictional aspect of this
postmodern novel.
Nevertheless the text does not only present intertextual examples of allusion or
transworld identities. According to Lodge, a text can refer to another in many ways:
parody, pastiche, echo, allusion, direct quotation, structural parallelism.xiv Although
Exit Ghost is not a parody, all the other features of intertextuality are perceivable
throughout the text. Most of the allusions are referential to other authors and literary
works. However on page 34, there is an allusion to music as the recording that is played
in Jamies house is Strausss Four Last Songsxv and enhances Jamies sensuous look,
and The end of Arabella in the Egyptian Helen.xvi Then there is reference to the world
of cinema on page 217 in which Tom Cruise is mentioned.
Exit Ghost presents a handful of references to literary texts and authors: Doll
House by Ibsen, Keats, The ShadowLline by Conrad, Anne Karenina, Truman Capote,
Ernest Hemingway, Lord Byron, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Edith Wharton,
Pilgrims progress, Lolita, Paradise Lost, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, A Farewell to
Arms, Thomas Mann, Anne Frank, and Dylan Thomasxvii. However, only some of these
intertextual references will be discussed more deeply throughout the essay because they
have a greater role in the novel. The first intertextual reference in the novel is the
starting quote by Dylan Thomas: before death takes you, O take back this.xviii This
quote seems to set one of the main themes of the novel, the struggle of Zuckerman
against death, time and mental diminishment. He feels death is coming but before death,
he will live again and experience against all odds what he calls rash momentsxix, in

other words his mutilated virility is momentarily forgotten and sexual and aggressive
feelings, manly feelings, are reborn.
Perhaps one of the most relevant intertextual connections is between Lonoffs
great secret and Hawthornes great secret. Lonoff seems to be a fictional and more
modern Hawthorne, whose writing was enriched by a great secret which could never be
proved. This great secret makes the detective plot advance and also justifies Amy
Bellettes letter because she criticizes journalists like Kliman who want to sell books by
destroying the reputation of another writer. Then the image of Hawthorne is used as
tool to justify what Lonoff was trying to write by the end of his life, he was being used
as a source of inspiration. Another important intertextual reference comes from
Macbeth on page 72. Apart from the mentioning of the play, there is a quote from the
play A wayward son Hecate says, spiteful and wrathfulxx, representing Bush as a
postmodern Macbeth. In addition, Duncan is mentioned and the dagger that killed him.
Mentioning Macbeth, which is a play full of references to ghosts, cannot be an
unmotivated reference, Macbeth seems to echo the fact that a ghost is haunting these
characters as it happens in this play. Zuckerman feels like a ghost himself, the shadow
of the man he used to be and out valued by men like Kliman. Another ghost in the story
can be Lonoff, who is going to be treacherously exposed to the public eye, murdered
metaphorically speaking like it happened to Duncan and asking Zuckerman to look after
his name. Therefore, intertextuality enhances the metaphoric meaning of the title of the
novel.
Another interesting use of intertextuality occurs when through the use of free
indirect speech and in an analeptic shift, Zuckermans youth fantasy regarding Amy
Bellettes past is exposed. In this fantasy Amy is in fact Anne Frank who has actually
managed to escape the Nazis. This intertextual reference provides a glimpse into the
subworld of a young writer and emphasizes on the romantic effect that Amy had had.
Other features of intertextuality used in the novel are structural parallelism and
direct quotes; the latter has already been mentioned. In the She He play, a poem by
Keats is quoted by She and the He quotes parts of Keatss letters as a mockery to her
attempt to expose her husbands romantic character. Then, there are several quotes from
The Shadow-Line and through these quotes He and She analyze the use of triplets in his
own speech and in Conrads. For example, But Ill tell you, Captain Giles, how I feel.

I feel old. And I must be. Page 130.xxi This analysis of structural parallelism in the
novel is again an instance of metafictionxxii and the self referential feature of language.
Postmodern writing characterizes by this use of metalanguage as to show that a text is
not mimesis of reality but rather a reinterpretation of other text and language features.
Finally, the pastiche features of this text can be also perceived by the
miscegenationxxiii, i.e. the mixture of genres. Although Exit Ghost is mainly a novel,
other genres are inserted in the novel and this could be consider intertextuality because
the novel refers back to other genre and is enriched by them. These genres are the poem
(Keats poem), the letter (Amys letter and the threatening letter to Zuckerman), the
biography (the reconstruction of the life of different characters) and the He She play.
In conclusion, Intertextuality is a predominant feature in Exit Ghost as it
enriches its metaphorical force, like Macbeths allusion does, and contributes to the
development of the plot as it happens with the intertextual reference to Hawthorne. In
addition, the novels postmodern features are enriched due to the intrusion of
metaficitional and metalinguistic aspects and these are overtly shown through
intertextual references and quotes. Hence, as Lodge expresses it intertextuality is not,
or not necessarily, a merely decorative addition to the text, but sometimes a crucial
factor (...).xxiv In the case of Exit Ghost, this is true as well because intertextuality
becomes a tool to foreground themes, parallel aspects of the plot, enrich metaphors and
set the general mood, among other features which have been mentioned throughout the
essay and others which could have probably been interpreted by other readers.

Eagleton, T. Literary theory an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, second edition 1996.

ii

This is quoted because postmodern literature blurs the barriers between the literary worlds
and what is commonly known as the real world.
iii

Foucault, M. The Archeology of Knowledge. London: Tavistock, 1974. Chapter 1.

iv

Selden, Raman & Widdowson. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory. Great Britain:
The University Press of Kentucky, 1993. Chapter 7.
v

For this idea I am following McHale, B. Postmodernist Fiction.London: Routledge, 1991.

vi

McHale, B. Postmodernist Fiction.London: Routledge, 1991.

vii

Ibid.

viii

These names were taken from: Roth, P. Exit Ghost. New York: Vintage 2007.

ix

Roth, P. Exit Ghost. New York: Vintage 2007.

This term was explained by Patricia Green during a class.

xi

This term was explained by Patricia Green during a class.

xii

Sontag, S. Against Interpretation. Retrieved from http://www.coldbacon.com/writing/sontagagainstinterpretation.html. July 2 2012.

xiii

Roth, P. Exit Ghost. Op. Cit.

xiv

Lodge, D. The Art of Fiction. Penguin books, 1992. Chapter 21.

xv

Roth, P. Exit Ghost. Op. Cit.

xvi

Ibid.

xvii

These names were taken from: Roth, P. Exit Ghost. Op. Cit.

xviii

Ibid.

xix

Ibid

xx

Ibid.

xxi

Ibid

xxii

This term follows McHale, B. Postmodernist Fiction. Op. Cit.

xxiii

This term was explained by Patricia Green during a class.

xxiv

Lodge, D. The Art of Fiction. Op. Cit.

Bibliography

Eagleton, T. Literary theory an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, second edition 1996.

Foucault, M. The Archeology of Knowledge. London: Tavistock, 1974. Chapter 1.

Lodge, D. The Art of Fiction. Penguin books, 1992. Chapter 21.

McHale, B. Postmodernist Fiction.London: Routledge, 1991.

Roth, P. Exit Ghost. New York: Vintage 2007.

Selden, Raman & Widdowson. A readers guide to contemporary literary theory. Great
Britain: The University Press of Kentucky, 1993. Chapter 7.

Snontag, S. Against Interpretation. Retrieved from

http://www.coldbacon.com/writing/sontag-againstinterpretation.html. July 2 2012.