But it's true; anything witty I have to say has most likely come from somewhere else. The very name of this blog, for instance, is a reference to Black Adder the Third; a word invented by Edmund to confuse the famous Dr Johnson. It means something along the lines of "trouble" or "bother" but more than anything it is a beautifully amusing word. Try saying it aloud. It makes me chuckle every time.
Then take the titles of these first two blogs. The first is a quotation from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' that seemed somewhat appropriate for a first post (if a tad pretentious, but when you know this shit you've got to show it off). The second is a reference either to Rowan Atkinson's stand-up or the Holy Bible. Which one I leave you to decide, I still haven't worked out which is the best for moral guidance, but it paints a rather terrifying portrait of my fate as a despicable plagiarist.
We were warned of the dangers of such a wanton practice on our arrival at Univeristy. Like a vicar from the pulpit, the head of Spanish preached fire, brimstone and a severe telling off for those who transcended the laws of plagiarism. "Woe to those who use wikipedia, for their sources will be questionable and their essays apalling!" (You'll find it in Leviticus somewhere, I think, near the rules on intercourse with animals.)
Truly terrifying stuff, but it made me think: what is so bad about plagiarism? Forgive my heathen ways (Don't worry priest, I'll kiss a saint's kneecap or something...) but it's an interesting thought. Stealing someone else's work is definitely wrong, I'm not disputing that, but where do we draw the line on what is plagiarism and what is influnce? Where do we mark the boundaries between downright theft and unoriginality?
Because when you think about it, very little these days is truly original. When a magazine applauds an album as "an original sound for Summer 2010" what they really mean is "we haven't heard something this wierd since the sixites". A novel, praised as "a truly original and creative work of fiction", was written by someone with a favourite author themselves (we only hope for the love of all things sacred that it's not Jeffrey Archer). Even to claim something as original is an unoriginal claim, because someone (a cynical, lonely man from Newark I expect) once decided that things should have originality. Spooky.
Take this all one step further and we realise that the very fabric of our existence is unoriginal. Our personalities are a result of our relationships over time (which would explain why so many people are as mad as a duck that can't swim); the way we dress is dependent on what there is to buy and whether Gok Wan has deemed it the latest thing. The very words that we speak were taken from somewhere (unless of course you're into gibberish); be it a book, a parent or the only child in school that knew the meaning of the 'F-word', the fact that we string these components in a new order doesn't change the fact that we've taken them from somewhere. This is all hypothetical, farfetched and possibly ridiculous but the point stands.
So where has this rambling, bizarre and somewhat pear-shaped train of though led us to? Cheltenham, no; but a conclusion, I think likely. Perhaps what I am trying to say is that plagiarism as an understanding of influence is a good thing (forgive me Father...). All of life should be a distillation of the many things that impact, change and enrich our lives, where we take the best bits and weave them into something new. My writing will contain references to 'A bit of Fry and Laurie', echo the styles of Rowan Atkinson (long may his manner be eccentric and wierd) and most certainly borrow from the wisdom of other such famous men and women (excepting of course Bruce Forsyth and Rolf Harris, both of whom should have been retired and lovingly put down many years ago). Let us leave behind this obsession with originality that must drive so many creative people to the brink of a breakdown and instead applaud the ways in which we can regenerate what has been before. Maybe, just maybe, not being entirely original isn't such a mortal sin after all.
Even so, I think I'll keep praying. Just in case.
No comments:
Post a Comment