INTERTEXTUALITY AND NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES IN MACINTOSH ADVERTISING 1984
This paper presents the intertextual structure of an advertisement narrative, which, with the appearance of the Macintosh, is considered as a cultural phenomenon and an aesthetic determinant of the twentieth century that still defines modern culture. The Apple advertisement for the Macintosh “1984”, directed by Ridley Scott and prompted by the rigid discourse of the PC market of the time, refers to the Orwell’s fiction classic of the same title. In addition to verbal intertextuality, the advertisement also includes visual references that will be considered in this paper. The narrative technique of this one-minute video clip activates the paradigms of spatial coherence and subversions that are associated with utopian and dystopian constructs, thus successfully managing the space and the moment when the Macintosh emerged on the market. A system of uniqueness that is fully oriented to the production of customized consumers in order to gain profit implies creation of a commercial space in which social relationship between the individual and the perceived is established through use and consumption of electronic products and services. This new form of comfort reveals itself as a form of commodity fetishism, which, as a reference to Marx, would be another level of verbal intertextuality. From a collection of technological parts and raw materials, the Macintosh has changed into a “fantastic form” where physical properties express social behaviour. In this way, the commodity expresses something other than the mere sum of its raw materials or labour required for its production. With this innovative marketing approach, through the idea of liberation, information discourse is transformed. The world of numerous and diverse information is opposed to totalitarian regimes – consumer experiences and the power of information will be the force that rules the world. By presenting such an innovative marketing strategy with an emphasis on narrative practices, a new paradigm of commodification was established through the concept of individuality and rebellion against a totalitarian regime.
