Intratextual Dialogues or Intertextual Bridgings? Exploring the Intertextual Geographies of Gabriella Genisi’s Detective Fictions through Crossover Conversations

Following Sheila Hones’ proposal, a literary text can be analytically divided into three dimensions: intratextual, intertextual, and extratextual geographies. This paper explores a method for constructing intertextual references in a literary work, using the detective novels of Italian writer Gabriella Genisi as a case study. Genisi’s habit of ‘hosting’ characters from other detective novels in her books and having them interact with her protagonist, Lolita Lobosco, is interpreted as a narrative strategy for building intertextual references and creating her own mapping of Mediterranean Noir. In conclusion, the dialogue between crossover characters is proposed as an intertextual bridging mechanism.