Broken Voices and Borrowed Words: A Study of Intertextuality in Eliot’s The Waste Land

Abstract

This article explores the intricate intertextual fabric of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922), analyzing how Eliot weaves literary and mythological references to articulate the fragmentation and spiritual desolation of post-World War I Europe. Drawing upon Julia Kristeva’s concept of intertextuality, the study examines Eliot’s allusions to works such as Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare’s plays, Dante’s Inferno, and the Fisher King myth. Through this analysis, the article demonstrates how intertextuality functions as a critical tool in modernist literature, reflecting the complexities of cultural memory and the search for meaning in a disjointed world.