Every text inevitably conveys meanings its author neither intended nor controlled.

Evidence

Cultural life is then viewed as a series of texts intersecting with other texts, producing more texts (including that of the literary critic, who aims to produce another piece of literature in which texts under consideration are intersecting freely with other texts that happen to have affected his or her thinking). This intertextual weaving has a life of its own. Whatever we write conveys meanings we do not or could not possibly intend, and our words cannot say what we mean. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 342

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains poststructuralism as intertextuality — that texts only exist in relation to other texts, and authorial intention cannot govern meaning.
• XREF: connects to: All texts are worldly and circumstantial, varying by genre and period — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 91; Literature and culture are never politically innocent but inseparable from society — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 101; Representations are necessarily embedded in culture, language, and politics, never pure truth. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 696 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Messages are polysemic, so decoding never guarantees preferred intended meaning. #corroborates (0.90)
• All texts are worldly and circumstantial, varying by genre and period #expands (0.85) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 91
• Representations are necessarily embedded in culture, language, and politics, never pure truth. #corroborates (0.85) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 696
• Any complex text is multiply determined across ideological worlds, not just one #corroborates (0.85) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 205
• Literature and culture are never politically innocent but inseparable from society #qualifies (0.75) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 101