Intertextuality in Baron

As one of the posts in his blog “The Web of Language,” Dennis Baron focused on an emerging issue that has gained momentum along with the rise of Internet usage, and the quick and convenient accessibility to just about anything, no matter how old, through the use of search engines. The issue at hand is “the right to be forgotten,” or the right of people to have certain documents, links, and files that have been posted about them removed from the Internet database, as it can harm their future endeavors, assuming that enough time has passed. The issue is ironed out by Baron through the example of the lawsuit by Mario Costeja Gonzalez: “In 1998, the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia carried an official announcement, in print and in its online edition, that real estate owned by Mario Costeja González had been seized and would be auctioned off to settle his debts” (Baron).

Grant-Davie’s definition of a rhetorical situation in his essay, “Rhetorical Situations and their Constituents” is “a situation where a speaker or writer sees a need to change reality and sees that the change may be effected through rhetorical discourse” Grant-Davie 265). In the case of Baron’s post, the rhetorical situation lies in the example he offers. Mario Costeja Gonzalez sues Google, in an attempt to rid himself of his dark past, and wins. He, in turn, sees the need to change something about the way things are currently, and is a clear example of what Grant-Davie describes as “the rhetorical situation.” The lawsuit essentially is the rhetorical situation, and the discourse taking place would be his arguments as to why the information about his debts should be taken down. This included the fact that 11 years had passed since the occurrence, and that “the announcement of the debt sale was no longer relevant and could be prejudicial to his present interests” (Baron).

As for the intertextuality of the post, Porter claims that “all texts are interdependent: We understand a text only insofar as we understand its precursors” (Porter 34). With that said, Baron’s text is definitely intertextual. With Porter’s definition of intertextuality being, “the principle that all writing and speech - and, indeed, all signs - arise from a single network,” (Porter 34) Baron’s blog post acts that way because the text in its entirety comes from a former lawsuit, and the development of that lawsuit. Baron borrows from Roman poet Horace, “back in the first century BCE, the Roman poet Horace advised young writers not to put their words out into the world too soon: nescit vox missa reverti, ‘the word, once sent, can never be recalled” (Baron). He then makes his own point by adapting Horace’s quote into the times of the Internet, and claiming that the “Horace 2.0” version of the quote would essentially be the same idea, except that “an email once sent . . . . there is simply no “undo. The internet never forgets” (Baron). Aside from this, intertextuality is present in that Baron’s post uses facts and informations from other sources, such as the announcement that Mario Costeja Gonzalez is suing for in the first place. Baron’s post is saturated with intertextuality, to the point that it could not essentially exist without the existence of other texts to base his examples off of.

Baron, Dennis. "The Web of Language." The Web of Language. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept.                     2014.

D'Angelo, Frank J. "The Rhetoric of Intertextuality." Rhetoric Review 29.1 (2009): 31-47.

Web. 31 Aug. 2014.

Grant-Davie, Keith. “Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents.” Rhetoric Review 15.2

(1997): 264-279. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.