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Abstract

The present research paper attempts an intertextual reading of When Breathbecomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, an Indian-American neurosurgeon and a writer.The term intertextuality was originally coined by Julia Kristeva and it refers to thepresence of one or more text/s within a text. It rejects the idea of the closure ofmeaning and it demonstrates the dialogic state of a text. The current researchstudy is significant as it aims to provide a better understanding of theinterdisciplinary connection of fiction with that of any non-fiction text. It furtherhighlights that the use of allusions, reminiscences, aphorisms, and quotations, andaphorisms in the novels that call for many interpretations. The current study hasapplies the theoretical perspective of postmodern historiographic metafictionproposed by Linda Hutcheon in her book Poetic’s of Postmodernism: History,Theory, Fiction (2003). This research uses intertextuality as a tool to analyze theselected text. Early on, the memoir has been studied with respect to limitedperspectives; however, the present study aims to analyze it in the light ofpostmodernism that refers to a trend of plurality, uncertainty, metafiction,fragmentation, identity crisis, pastiche and intertextuality. The research objectiveexplores the extent to which the writer interweaves fiction into historical texts togenerate a postmodern blend in a single narrative. This research is qualitative anddescriptive, while textual analysis has been used as a research method. Thisresearch ends with the findings and recommendations for the future research.