Quotations, given without quotation marks”: Exploring Intertextuality and elaborating its functions in How It Happened

This paper explores the intertextual elements in Shazaf Fatima Haider’s (2013) How It Happened. The study is based on the theory of text and intertextuality proposed by Roland Barthes (1977). This theory suggests that no text ever exists in individuality. All the texts are interwoven, interlinked and dependent to each other by the intertextualelements. No text stands apart and claims to be original, and contains the aspects of creating a mosaic. The intertextuality is used and molded in accordance to the cultural needs, requirements and cultural context. The quantitative paradigm is employed in this research. By employing the descriptive analysis, the technique proposed by Sudaryanto (1993) the Simak Bebas Libat Cakap, is used to analyze the data. The data is selected after perused reading of the novel How It Happened (2013). The relevant data is extracted, noted down and further analyzed for intertextual references. The data are further elaborated in function of occupying that particular intertextuality. The findings revealed that strong intertextual elements from various fields, dimensions and realms are present in How It Happened. The intertextual references have specific functions to perform, which are traced as elaboration, intensification, humor, irony, comparison, extension and opposition in accordance to the specific cultural scenario.