The Lighthouse Diary #69: A Model Text for the Exploratory Essay 1 of 2

We kicked off our Extended Essay (EE) Journey last February, around the third week and we have been dwelling in topic selection; identifying sources that will inform us of breadth and depth of topics, using thinking tools such as the KWL-I Chart and Mind Maps to see connections and organize our thinking. Add to this is the relearning of Managebac as a platform to document our reflections as we learn and navigate in the EE. In previous years we would require our students to write a topic/research proposal and present it to a panel. Realizing the importance of "thinking slow" in this phase of the EE, and how crucial research and inquiry are, we thought of writing an Exploratory Essay. To help our students in this exercise, we sent and showed them model texts. 

Below is one of them, written by me.

Exploratory Essay: Understanding Intertextuality as Literary Theory and Strategy in Selected Songs and Music Videos of BTS

By Ms. Zee 😊

Of the varied specialized dictionaries, I used to establish a definition of Intertextuality, it is Julia Kristeva’s work that is consistently mentioned. Graham Allen’s recent work on Intertextuality (2020), which has a comprehensive and extensive coverage, is cited as well. These are the two scholars who have written extensively on the topic of Intertextuality; therefore, I will make time to do research on their publications to deepen and extend my knowledge on my chosen topic. For my exploratory essay, I will focus on establishing basic but foundational knowledge on Intertextuality.

 Kristeva posits that Intertextuality is a relationship between and among texts. This interplay of texts not only echo each other but undergo a transposition– something familiar and yet, it offers something new. Expressed through anagram, allusion, adaptation, parody, pastiche, imitation and other kinds of transformation, texts are drawn to establish an interdependence that emulsifies and amplifies meaning. The overlaying of texts is nuanced with the traces of texts from other sources, thus, the discourse surrounding this transformed text becomes padded. It offers the reader a variety of points of view and perspectives. The reader’s knowledge of different forms, genres and kinds of text is key in the understanding and appreciation of intertextual texts as a work of literature (Matrix Education n.d). When taken as a media product, texts that are produced using intertextuality have the power to hold the audience’s or the reader’s reckoning of contents or brands. In this case, Intertextuality when viewed as a theory allows open discussions on sources of information, knowledge and literature either literary or non-literary. Zengin (2016) further expands the theory of intertextuality as both an act of authorial production and reader perception. The meaning of an intertext is set upon its creation by the author but this evolves and changes depending on the reader’s interaction with the text. Intertextuality then becomes a never-ending process of meaning-making.

This brings to light the music video of Spring Day by the KPop group, BTS. There are three notable scenes and images that are fused together. The effect is an intriguing, almost luminous, message on loss, longing and the desire for justice in a seemingly hopeless world. The explicit use of Omelas to name a hotel/dorm harkens to Ursula Le Guin’s riveting short story; the lone train traveling in a wintry landscape is reminiscent of the post-apocalyptic movie, Snowpiercer (2013); and the folkloric image of a pair of shoes hanging in a tree branch magnifies the yearning for freedom and individuation. These borrowed texts provide a layered and emotionally textured narrative that invite viewers to discuss and reinterpret the message through literary appropriation, allusion and socio-cultural phenomenon. Even the song lyrics are picked up by fans and casual audiences contributing to a rich discourse on pop-culture and its relevance of storytelling to the human condition (Lazore, 2024). By referencing images and literary elements from a short story, a movie and folkloric beliefs, Spring Day as a song and music video transforms into a story that fans and casual viewers discover as both mystical and illuminating evoking a variety of emotions and multiple interpretations. Spring Day has never left the MelOn Charts since its release in 2017. It has won numerous awards in South Korea and has been performed in different artistic forms since then.