Intertextual Modes and Postcolonial Critique: A Study of Integration and Interfigurality in the Centre (2023)

Abstract

The intertextual theory, which has a European origin and was developed by poststructuralist and postmodern theorists, assumes a renewed relevance and currency in the postcolonial context. Postcolonial writers appropriate and adapt Kristeva's influential notion of intertextuality to de-canonise, revisit, and reverse canonical literature and the construction of knowledge. Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi's debut novel The Centre (2023) employs various modes of intertextuality to engage, reference and reimagine Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1899). The present study seeks to probe Siddiqi's deft use of intertextuality and its various modes in The Centre (2023) by applying the latest developments on intertextuality and its intersections with postcolonial theory and literature. Siddiqi uses the intertextual modes of integration and interfigurality in The Centre (2023) to increase the artistic richness and to create counterpoint and irony about canonical texts. Using intertextuality as a postcolonial tool, she lays bare the lingering effects of colonialism and the emerging forms of West's linguistic neo-imperialism. Moreover, Siddiqi does not use intertextuality as merely a mechanical technique to embellish her intertext; instead, her use of intertextuality is consciously directed to the specific purpose of writing back to the centre to subvert or appropriate colonial ideological force by involving in a dialogic process.