INTERTEXTUALITY AS A GAME OF POPULAR AND SUBLIME

Text topic: Culture Studies

Text author: Соња Оцић

The thesis presented in this paper shows that literature has not completely lost its role of cultural capital. The reason for optimism is found in intertextuality as a key feature of postmodern art. The postmodern method in popular culture involves use of high art stylistic solutions while at the same time the content of popular genres treats very complex issues. We take as an example the television series True Detective, produced by the American HBO network, to show that even in that popular form it is possible to identify features of postmodern art such as double coding, intertextual irony and quotations. Through its themes and motifs, this series has been associated with one of the most significant work of the canonical literature – Dante’s Divine Comedy. Also, one work of popular literature has been explicitly quoted in this series – a collection of stories from the 19th century The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers.