An Analysis of Intertextual Relations in Khodadad Rezaei's Play, Bazi-e Akhar

Intertextuality is a key concept in literary criticism that explores the relationships between literary texts, often across shared or differing styles and schools. According to the theory of intertextuality, a work of art explicitly references other artworks, and in the case of literary texts, derives its meaning from its connections to other texts. One of the leading scholars in this field is Gerard Genette, who developed the theory of transtextuality by building on the ideas of earlier theorists. The Iranian playwright and director Khodadad Rezaei incorporates numerous references to classical and contemporary texts in his play "Bazi-e Akhar", which simplifies intertextual analysis for literary critics. This study, employing a descriptive-analytical method and relying on library research, examines the play through the lens of intertextuality, specifically from Gerard Genette’s perspective, and introduces readers to various interpretations of intertextuality theory. The main question raised in this article is: “How can understanding the impact of previous games help us interpret the meaning of this work?” Based on the results of this study, the analyzed text is closely related to four other works: namely, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, "The Story of Prophet Job (PBUH)", "Once again the City I loved" by Nader Ebrahimi, and the legend of "A Thousand and One Nights". This is achieved through an intertextual approach, one of the poststructuralist concepts proposed by Gérard Genette. Another significant finding of the research is that Rezaei, the author of Bazi-e-Akhar, employs earlier texts by quoting and referencing them, thereby utilizing their deep semantic capacities. Through this technique, conciseness is evident in the writing of his text.
Introduction:
It is natural for every writer or poet who has emerged in recent centuries to explore topics and themes that were previously addressed by their predecessors. “Whatever the subject of speech, it has always been discussed in some form beforehand, making it impossible to avoid repeating ideas that have already been expressed on the topic.” (Todorov, 1998: 125) The foundation of stylistic studies—whether at the individual or period level—lies in intertextual analysis, or more precisely, in examining the relationships between texts by different authors across both recent and distant times. The reason for this is also very clear: that texts have the greatest influence on each other, it can be said that style is the product of studies and is influenced by the author's level of knowledge... In such a situation, we say that his style is influenced by the texts he reads..." (Futohi, 2011, p. 226). The most important claim of intertextual theorists is that no independent, self-sufficient text exists in the world of literature; rather, texts are inherently interconnected and, since they originate from the educated minds of their authors, are in constant communication with each other.
“It can even be said that within a given text, there is a continuous conversation between that text and texts that exist outside of that text." (Makarik, 2004: 72) In this regard, by reflecting on the opinions of those who support intertextuality, we can say that this theory is very close to the theory of postmodernists and their views on text and textuality. “Theorists often claim that, in the postmodern era, it is no longer possible to speak of the originality or uniqueness of a work of art, whether a painting or a novel, because works of art are all too clearly an assemblage of bits and pieces of pre-existing art.” (Allen, 2013: 17)
The first clear proponent of intertextuality is Albeit, who proposed it as a "dialogic of discourse" for texts, Mikhail Bakhtin, who was strongly influenced by the linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure. He was the one who considered the relationship between signifier and signified to be entirely conventional and the result of abstraction.  He believed that abstract and conventional relationships could also be found at the level of texts, and between sentences in several texts. Bakhtin, “in clarifying the dialogic dimension of texts, especially novels, argues that every phrase, sentence, or literary text either responds to a previous writing or calls upon later writings to respond.” (Sokhanvar and Moradabadi, 2008: 2-3)
After Bakhtin, Tzotan Todorov and Julia Kristeva are two other influential and prominent figures who, by elaborating on Bakhtin's views, took important steps towards explaining intertextuality. The birth of the term “intertextuality” is exclusively attributed to Kristeva. “Julia Kristeva” introduced the term intertextuality into French literary criticism and theory in the late 1960s, in examining the ideas and thoughts of Mikhail Bakhtin—especially in the discussion of his principle of conversationalism. (Makarik, 2004: 72). Kristeva's most important achievement is that " she connects Bakhtin's theories about the dialogue of the text with her own semiotic theory and says that every text connects with the world outside itself on two axes. On the horizontal axis, the author connects with the reader, and on the vertical axis, the text connects with other texts and with the context in which the text is formed. (Sokhanvar and Moradabadi, 2008: 3) The first or horizontal axis shows the relationship of Kristeva's theory to reader-oriented theories, and the second or vertical axis is what we know as intertextuality.
Two important theories in this area are those of Gerard Genette and Harold Bloom. Genette views intertextuality with a very powerful structuralism, and for this reason, using this theory in reading texts is very helpful. Harold Bloom's theory is also important because, by combining psychology and literature in his theory and explaining "misreading" in his theory, he ended many doubts about whether intertextuality is limited to verbal similarities and intellectual and thematic correspondences between texts.
Methodology:
As previously stated, the term intertextuality was first introduced in French in the early works of Julia Kristeva from the mid-to-late 1960s. In essays such as “The Captive Text” and “Word, Conversation, Novel”, Kristeva introduces the works of the Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin to the French-speaking world.” (Allen, 2013: 30). What is known today as intertextuality and as one of the important literary theories in understanding and interpreting the messages of literary texts is not the result of the thinking of just one person. Rather, it is the result of a number of prominent theorists of contemporary literature (especially Structuralists), who played a role in producing its content during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. What we can boldly say is that all opinions of this school share the principle that no text is self-sufficient and is not created by a person without prior knowledge. Furthermore, it has no connection with other literary texts. A work of art alone, without considering other works, is not original because it is formed and given its essence from pieces and parts of pre-existing art. From this perspective, various divisions can be considered for intertextual relations. One of the most common divisions is based on the index of disclosure or concealment, which are: Explicit and overt intertextuality, Implicit and covert intertextuality. In explicit and overt intertextuality, the intertextual element can be easily identified because this element is explicit and clear for various reasons. (Namvar Motlaq, 2016: 38). In simpler terms, texts will have two major forms in terms of intertextual relationships with their predecessors. Their relationships are either direct and uncomplicated (through direct quotation and explicit reference), which will help the researcher in intertextual reading; or it has followed the previous text in terms of writing style, writing or composition methods, and stylistic categories, in which case the less astute researcher will realize the connection between the two texts, and the text itself will not help the researcher much in intertextual reading.
Results and Discussion:
In fact, Rezaei is influenced by all of the aforementioned texts; however, the anxiety stemming from their grandeur, combined with his desire to replace their authors and imprint his own signature on the content, leads him to express his misinterpretation through dramatic elements of the absurd. The man represents all the men in the texts related to the play in which he appears (Macbeth, Job, the narrator, and the prince). For this reason, no specific name is given to him, allowing him to embody a generality that enables him to fit seamlessly with the other characters. Rezaei's misunderstanding or misinterpretation of this man lies in his relationship with his wife, his perception of the outside world, and his fate within the narrative, all of which unfold in a completely absurd manner.
Conclusion:
The results of the research show that the text of the play "The Last Game" by Khodadad Rezaei is in communication and interaction with other texts, and this once again confirms the principle of intertextuality, that no independent text exists and that literary texts are in an interconnected network. In the research conducted, an attempt has been made to show the relationship of the text under study with four other texts. The texts are "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare, "The Story of Job (AS)" which is a religious story narrated in the sacred books, "Once More the City I Loved" by Nader Ebrahimi, and the legend of "One Thousand and One Nights" which is a product of a combination of the legends of the Middle East nations and some Indian stories. One of the findings of the research is that all four other texts are included in the play in three ways: quotation, reference, and allusion. Another is that they share the themes of the confrontation between a man and a woman, the tragedy of power, suffering, patience, and love. Another noteworthy result of the research is that Rezaei, the author of "The Last Game," has taken advantage of their deep semantic capacities by quoting and referring to earlier texts, and with this technique, he has observed brevity in writing his text.
One of the findings of the research is that all four other texts are included in the play "The Endgame" in three ways: quotation, reference, and allusion. Another is that they share the themes of the confrontation between a man and a woman, the tragedy of power, suffering, patience, and love. His use of these texts takes shape in a process in which the classical and traditional meanings of previous texts are set aside, and Rezaei presents themes belonging to postmodernism and within the dramatic structure of the absurd.At the end of the study, as a suggestion, researchers are advised to examine or read intertextually, and even transtextually, between the two works. Once Again, the City I Loved" by Nader Ebrahimi and "Earthly Meals" by André Gide, both of which have the characteristics of Romanticism.