i don't know how the "death of the author" theories apply to nonfiction, so i'm flying blind here.
but to me, as a teacher, i have to go with author's intent. if you steal someone else's work and pass it off as your own because you're too lazy to do the writing yourself, that's plagiarism.
if you quote a line from a song and assume i know the song, that's not plagiarism. but this kind of literary allusion assumes so much between reader and writer, you know?
pastiche is a recognized form of writing, but don't you have to give some kind of author's note or alert that that's the form you're using? like the remixes or the putting your fan characters into a movie plot?
what you said about the reader being supposed to notice the material from the other author is key. if you hope the reader DOESN"T notice, that you can pretend YOU thought it up, that's plagiarism.
i have to explain very carefully to my 18 year olds what is plagiarism and what isn't, and how they can't just go to wikipedia and cut and paste stuff for their paper. they really don't know. so what people get taught is important.
i don't see how you can talk about plagiarism and literary allusions and jazz quoting in solos and pastiches without getting into authorial intent.
no subject
but to me, as a teacher, i have to go with author's intent. if you steal someone else's work and pass it off as your own because you're too lazy to do the writing yourself, that's plagiarism.
if you quote a line from a song and assume i know the song, that's not plagiarism. but this kind of literary allusion assumes so much between reader and writer, you know?
pastiche is a recognized form of writing, but don't you have to give some kind of author's note or alert that that's the form you're using? like the remixes or the putting your fan characters into a movie plot?
what you said about the reader being supposed to notice the material from the other author is key. if you hope the reader DOESN"T notice, that you can pretend YOU thought it up, that's plagiarism.
i have to explain very carefully to my 18 year olds what is plagiarism and what isn't, and how they can't just go to wikipedia and cut and paste stuff for their paper. they really don't know. so what people get taught is important.
i don't see how you can talk about plagiarism and literary allusions and jazz quoting in solos and pastiches without getting into authorial intent.
*ponders*