Questions: Intertextuality and Allusion

Question 1

A novel set during World War II features a character named Odysseus who spends years trying to return home to his wife after the war. The novelist is most likely using this name to:

• A. Signal that the character is of Greek descent
• B. Import the associations of Homer's Odyssey — prolonged journey, faithfulness, cunning — to deepen the character's meaning without establishing those qualities from scratch
• C. Show that the author has read classical literature
• D. Create a hidden reference that only scholars will notice

Answer: (B)

The function of an allusion is to import the associations of the source text into the new work. Naming the character Odysseus activates the reader's knowledge of the Homeric hero — the long homeward journey, the temptations, the waiting spouse — and uses those resonances to enrich the character. The analyst's job is to explain what specifically is imported and how it serves the text.

Question 2

Identifying an allusion in a text is the final goal of intertextual analysis — once you have found the reference, the analysis is complete.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Allusion-spotting is the starting point, not the endpoint. Finding the allusion opens the real analytical question: what does this reference contribute? What emotional, thematic, or historical weight does invoking this prior text add? What would be lost if the allusion were removed? A completed analysis explains the function of the allusion within the text's larger argument or effect.

Question 3

Using the counterfactual test, how do you determine whether an allusion is doing meaningful work in a text?

Model answer: Remove the allusion mentally and ask what changes. If the text loses something — emotional resonance, thematic depth, ironic contrast, historical connection — then the allusion is functional. If nothing of significance changes, the allusion may be decorative or coincidental rather than analytically important.

The counterfactual test forces you to articulate exactly what the allusion contributes rather than simply noting that a reference exists. It prevents allusion-spotting from becoming a recognition game disconnected from interpretation — you must explain the difference the allusion makes to the text's meaning.