AN INTERTEXTUAL ENCOUNTER OF BERNARD CORNWELL’S THE WINTER KING

Abstract

Arthurian Literature is an emerging field in English Literature that discusses the various works on King Arthur. Arthur is considered to be the legendary hero of Britain and the works that come under Arthurian Literature discuss the life and adventures of him. Arthurian works are approached from various perspectives that added new depth to their popularity. Mostly they were looked at from a historical point of view and many still discuss the existence of King Arthur. The other approach is a mythical study where the supernatural and mystery and put under scrutiny. These works have also been studied with reference to social and cultural aspects. Intertextuality is the shaping of a text’s meaning by other texts and it is the interconnection between similar or related works of literature that reflected and influenced an interrelationship between texts and generated a general understanding in separate works. These references were made to influence the reader and to add layers of depth to a text, based on the reader’s prior knowledge and understanding. Intertextuality would develop a better understanding of the Arthurian novels and would allow the readers to make as many connections as possible with other texts. This paper aims to bring out the intertextuality elements in The Winter King by Bernard Cornwall.