In the field of contemporary Arabic literature, the theme of intertextuality as the source of novelistic literary creation possesses a double origin. On the one hand, the study of major contemporary Arabic novelists shows that they make use of prior narratives of essentially epic, historical and religious character, reproducing them in a romantic style and context that is entirely their own, but without departing from the original theme. On the other, intertextuality as the source of literary creation takes for its foundation the role played by memory and knowledge. In order to grasp the way in which these two sources are used and why, we are going to approach the question by analyzing university studies and current literary criticism on the subject, thereby constructing an objective argument. Then we will structure our work in three parts. The first will be entitled: “Quotations and References”, a juxtaposition posing the question of the relationship between the intertextual quotation and the reader. The second part will be entitled: “Allusions and Evocations”. This pair of terms will be concerned with the relationship between intertextuality and memory (both historical and cultural), which is contained in the literature. Finally, the third part will be called: “Resumptions and Reorganisations” – these two terms raising the question of textual resumption and the divergent relationship existing between texts.