Which approach specifically analyzes how myths are referenced or transformed within later texts?

• A. Comparative myth
• B. Intertextual criticism
• C. Reception theory
• D. Structuralism

Answer: (B)

Intertextual criticism examines how texts converse with one another, focusing on how a later work references, borrows from, or reshapes material from earlier myths. This approach pays close attention to allusions, quotations, echoes, and transformations—seeing how mythic elements are reinterpreted to fit new contexts or rhetorical aims. That makes it the best fit for analyzing how myths are invoked or reworked within later texts, not just compared across myths or interpreted by audiences.

Comparative myth would look at myths themselves across cultures or traditions, tracing similarities and differences rather than how a specific later text engages with a myth. Reception theory centers on how readers or communities understand a text over time, rather than on the textual relationship between myths and later works. Structuralism focuses on underlying structures, codes, or binary oppositions in myths, without specifically addressing how later texts reference or transform those myths.