An intertextual reading of the novel Defend the Name

Abstract

The general objective of this intertextual analysis’s was to explore Wolde’s novel Defend the Name (1969) with the view to identify and interpret the several thematic and stylistic intertexts that are woven throughout the narrative. Based on available research, there is a scarcity of critical studies that have utilized the theory of intertextuality for the analysis and interpretation of Ethiopian prose fiction in English, particularly within the novel genre. The current study was aimed to partially fill in this critical gap. In doing so, the theory of intertextuality is employed as theoretical-analytical framework of the study. The findings of this intertextual analysis concentrated on the thematic and stylistic intertexts that were woven throughout the plot of the book Defend the Name. These intertexts included biblical allusions, colonial literary devices, contemporary theoretical and ideological works, and cultural and historical discourses that the book intertextually engages with in addition to other literary and nonliterary works. This study provides insightful information about the thematic diversity of Defend the Name and its involvement with multiple intertexts through its intertextual analysis. It enhances the reader’s comprehension of the story, characters, and larger sociopolitical situations that the novel addresses, demonstrating the author’s skill in fusing together a variety of literary, scriptural, ideological, and cultural aspects.