Yes, but, if said archaeologist (we'll call him Daniel Jackson for convenience!) found the Gospel, wrote and posted the fanfic that relied on it heavily, and buried it on a planet about to be engulfed in supernova, then no one would know -- could even begin to guess -- that it had been plagiarized. (Textual critics *might* get suspicious if it were different from his usual writing style, or seemed like two pieces woven together, or whatever, but even they wouldn't know for sure.
So, I guess my point is, from a theoretical perspective it's easy to say "that's a case of plagiarism," but in actuality it would be impossible for anyone to judge because it would be so well-hidden.
Huh. I don't know. I think I'm kind of stuck here because of all the unconscious borrowing I (and I assume most people) do. I don't cite Joss Whedon every time I speak, though by rights I properly should; Gvambat, you, and Elizabeth have influenced my fannish sensibility so much that you should probably get nodded to in beta notes on every fic.
... yeah. I think it's the way that I keep a writer's notebook and collect interesting bits of conversation, song lyrics and poetry and my boss's complete inability to spell -- we're always borrowing, always depending on other texts for our texts' meanings, and while direct and lengthy quotations should be cited, I don't think it's actually possible or desirable to cite everything.
no subject
Yes, but, if said archaeologist (we'll call him Daniel Jackson for convenience!) found the Gospel, wrote and posted the fanfic that relied on it heavily, and buried it on a planet about to be engulfed in supernova, then no one would know -- could even begin to guess -- that it had been plagiarized. (Textual critics *might* get suspicious if it were different from his usual writing style, or seemed like two pieces woven together, or whatever, but even they wouldn't know for sure.
So, I guess my point is, from a theoretical perspective it's easy to say "that's a case of plagiarism," but in actuality it would be impossible for anyone to judge because it would be so well-hidden.
Huh. I don't know. I think I'm kind of stuck here because of all the unconscious borrowing I (and I assume most people) do. I don't cite Joss Whedon every time I speak, though by rights I properly should; Gvambat, you, and Elizabeth have influenced my fannish sensibility so much that you should probably get nodded to in beta notes on every fic.
... yeah. I think it's the way that I keep a writer's notebook and collect interesting bits of conversation, song lyrics and poetry and my boss's complete inability to spell -- we're always borrowing, always depending on other texts for our texts' meanings, and while direct and lengthy quotations should be cited, I don't think it's actually possible or desirable to cite everything.