Abstract

Objectives: This study seeks to apply the theory of intertextuality to the novel Safar Barlik wa Duroob al-Qafr (2010) by the novelist Suleiman Al-Qawab'ah. The primary motivation for selecting this novel as a fieldwork for application stems from the dense intertextual layers observed by the researchers, alongside the embedded implications and references that draw the reader back to prior literary and heritage texts-so much so that hardly a page is devoid of one or more intertextual instances. Furthermore, the diversity and divergence in the origins of these source texts served as a driving force to uncover, study, analyze, and scrutinize them, thereby revealing their impact on both the formal and semantic structures of the text. Methodology: The study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to trace the forms and applied levels of intertextuality within the body of the novel. These are manifested in four major forms: referential, absorption-based, partial, and complete intertextuality (the latter comprising two types: modified and quoted). Additionally, the study monitors the intertextuality of folk literature as exemplified by folk songs and the colloquial dialect. Conclusion: The study has yielded a set of findings, most notably the novelist's success in consciously dissolving and absorbing the summoned texts. The referential intertextuality bestowed a condensed expressive form that enriched the novel and shattered the recipient's horizon of expectation. The findings also revealed that the absorbed texts are linked to deep symbolic significance reflecting the military hegemony imposed upon the Arabs and their tribes at that time, alongside a conspicuous manifestation of religious intertextuality.