Securitization refers to the process by which a financial instrument is created by pooling together multiple types of debt into one security that can then be traded. An infamous example is the mortgage-backed obligation (MBO), a type of derivative formed when individual mortgages with varying levels of risk are pooled together, then parceled into various sub-pools (or tranches), each of which can be traded. This process caused havoc in the financial crisis of 2007–8 when the risk assessment process of many MBOs was corrupted and many banks and investors were overleveraged in the housing market, contributing to the spreading financial contagion. I argue that this financial logic has spread to cultural texts, and securitization occurs through intertextuality. This is not an actual security, of course—you can't invest in this referential market (yet)—but the argument is that the same logic is apparent: take an underlying asset, unbundle it from its direct relationship to labor, rebundle it as an abstracted financial asset, and then buy/sell/trade/speculate it in various ways. Power is diverted from the underlying asset (in this case, the text), away from labor (in this case, the author), and harnessed by a speculative system (in this case, the financialized media system) as a security (in this case, marketplaces of lyrical speculation).

DEFINE: Defines securitization in finance (pooling debt into tradeable securities) before extending it metaphorically to intertextual cultural circulation. XREF: Links financial crisis mechanics (MBO derivatives, overleverage) to postmodern theories of intertextuality, transposing economic logic onto cultural production.

Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 335