Cirrus@Austlit

In 1966, early in her research career, Julia Kristeva began working on a commentary of the Russian formalist, Mikhail Bakhtin. Bakhtin's ideas of "dialogism" and "carnival" struck a powerful note: "At the beginning of my research, when I was writing a commentary on Bakhtin, I had the feeling ... we had reached an important point in moving beyond structuralism". Her commentary first introduced the term "intertextuality" into literary theory. It is difficult to under - estimate the impact of Kristeva's ideas, coming at a time when theorists and practitioners were moving away from the rigid forms and ideas imposed by structuralism. Kristeva's presentation, and subsequent publication of a revised version in 1969 as Word, Dialogue and Novel, saw the beginning of the widespread adoption and absorption of the ideas of intertextuality, setting the stage for the movement toward the earliest forms of post-structuralism.' (Author's abstract)