For this case study, I've compiled a series of intertextual data points amassed from the cascade of references made in 30 Rock. My goal was to generate a database with which it would be possible to discern formal and financial patterns from the many intertextual scenes, stories, and seasons of 30 Rock. As opposed to the clear-cut references to alcohol and automotive brands in hip hop lyrics, the intertextual references here confronted me with the contingency of making decisions on cultural matters that do not have yes-or-no parameters. What even qualifies as intertextual and how it could be quantified were preliminary quandaries, leading to more difficult questions like how might intertextuality act as a site of exchange for cultural and economic capital, how might its value be measured, and how might it be expressed or masked within a text. My aim was to map the political economy of intertextuality of 30 Rock, noting all instances of a reference to another cultural text or brand. If these references act as a form of currency, providing the possibility for an exchange of value—economic, cultural, or both—then this currency should be quantifiable to some degree, leading to a qualitative interpretation of the role of intertextuality within contemporary narrative.

DEFINE: Frames intertextuality as a form of currency that can be quantified and exchanged for cultural or economic value.

Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 363