I decided to read Lethem's "The Ecstasy of Influence" for this second assignment. There were some very interesting points brought up that really made me think about the actual idea behind the word "plagiarism". First it is important to consider the fact that as humans we learn through the act of replication. We replicate, repeat, and reproduce. When we learn to write our first words, are they not the words of our teacher that we are writing? We learn to walk and talk by watching the people around us. So wouldn't it make sense that when we learn to write music, poetry, or draw pictures that we learn from the influence of others?
History is full of instances of people who took other ideas and applied them to their own situations. So the idea of plagiarism seems to be a moral disagreement between society as a whole and the artist individual.
Very interesting position you take on plagiarism because our nature is in part based on imitating others. I guess we walk a fine line.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and accept the fact that we do live in a world of copy cats. Without these copy cats we wouldn't advance in the world!
ReplyDeleteI understand the point you're making. The exact definition of research, in fact, is conducting a study and reporting on it so others can repeat it. many aspects of our culture are learned by repetition, but what about in an academic nature? Yes, poetry and music has been morphed and adapted over the years but this doesn't mean I could use an older essay from another student in the semester before my class and call it my own.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is a fine line to be walked. I think what makes a difference between "copying" and (for lack of another word) imitation is the intent. If someone is lazy, and had an intention to not do their own work and claim someone else's work as their own, then obviously that can be qualified as plagiarism. However what of a creative re-make? As long as the intent to REMAKE and not claim the idea is clear, it shouldn't be a problem, right?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. When I think of plagiarism, I really don't think of artists who take particular notes from a very old, popular song and use it in their own. I think more about research papers where a person might take entire paragraphs from another paper.
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