THE MYTHIC METHOD AND INTERTEXTUALITY IN T.S. ELIOT’S POETRY

Abstract

The concept of intertextuality emerges in literary theory several decades after T.S. Eliot had written some of the most influential poems and pieces of criticism of the twentieth century, but the notion is nevertheless applied both theoretically and in practice to Eliot’s work.This paper sheds light on Eliot’s mythic method and its conceptual similarities to intertextuality and related theories, as well as focuses on instances of the application of the former in his poems, depicting the role of this mechanism in the poet’s literary works. Closely related to Eliot’s perception of tradition, it also supports his use of techniques of collage and kaleidoscopic presentation of sources, archetype and images...