Glassworks
  • home
  • about
    • history
    • masthead
    • staff bios
    • community outreach
    • affiliations
    • contact
  • current issue
    • read Issue 21
    • letter from the editor
    • looking glass fall 2020
    • interview with Porsha Olayiwola
    • new book reviews
    • new opinion editorials
  • submit
    • submission guidelines
  • looking glass
    • fall 2020
    • spring 2020
    • fall 2019
    • spring 2019
    • fall 2018
    • spring 2018
    • fall 2017
    • apprentice 2017
    • spring 2017
    • fall 2016
    • spring 2016
    • fall 2015
    • spring 2015
    • fall 2014
    • spring 2014
    • spring 2012
    • winter 2012
    • fall 2011
  • editorial content
    • book reviews
    • opinion
    • interviews >
      • Ed Briant
      • Eugene Cross
      • Josh Denslow
      • Christopher DeWan
      • Katherine Flannery Dering >
        • Aftermath
      • Eric Dyer
      • Julie Enszer >
        • Avowed
      • Mitchell Fink
      • Olivia Gatwood
      • David Gerrold
      • Cynthia Graham
      • Ernest Hilbert
      • Paul Lisicky >
        • The Roofers
      • Scott McCloud
      • Jan Millsapps
      • Anis Mojgani
      • Pedram Navab
      • Kelly Norris
      • Porsha Olayiwola
      • Michael Pagdon
      • Aimee Parkison >
        • The Petals of Your Eyes
      • Brad Parks
      • Chris Rakunas
      • Carlos Ramos
      • Mary Salvante
      • Jill Smolowe
      • Jayne Thompson
      • Julie Marie Wade
      • Melissa Wiley
  • flash glass
    • flash glass 2021
    • flash glass 2020
    • flash glass 2019
    • flash glass 2018
    • flash glass 2017
    • flash glass 2016
    • flash glass 2015
  • media
    • art
    • photography
    • audio
    • video
    • new media
  • archive
    • read past issues
    • order print issues
  • Master of Arts in Writing program
    • about Writing Arts at Rowan University
    • application and requirements
  • newsletter

Originality? There is No Such Thing!

2/1/2019

0 Comments

 
​by Leo Kirschner 
Picture
There is no such thing as originality! Don’t believe me? Go visit your local cineplex. 2018 brought us A Star Is Born, the fifth - yes fifth! - film adaption of the tragic love story between a celebrity in decline and his younger female protege. Want more proof? Robin Thicke’s hit 2013 “Blurred Lines” sounded very much like Marvin Gaye’s 1977 single “Got To Give It Up.” The courts thought so, too. Even in literature, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight begat E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey. British folklore, mythology, even The Lord of the Rings found themselves interwoven in JK Rowling’s epic Harry Potter-verse.
​
We are living in a culture where ideas are recycled and creativity is not highly regarded. I’m not the only one who believes this is true. In Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review, the famed writer offered up a similar viewpoint: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope... We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

PicturePhoto by Neil R. via Flickr
Twain’s stance on the existence of originality is further fueled by Christopher Booker’s 2005 book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. Booker points to the common story plots found in all of the world’s literature: “Overcoming the Monster,” “Rags to Riches,” “The Quest,” “Voyage and Return,” “Rebirth,” “Comedy,” and “Tragedy.” Their origins stem from historical events, philosophical beliefs, and cultural myths passed on from generation to generation. As a society, we are compelled to re-tell tales and fables and epics to offer wisdom and retain our identity. But we also do it to gain insight and find meaning in ourselves and our actions. So it’s only natural storytellers to digest what was learned, interpret the findings, and present it in a new way for new audiences.

Only that’s not originality. That’s something literary educators call “intertextuality.” ​​
Picture
Ever read a book or watched a film and wondered to yourself, “where I have seen this before?" Chances are you have. That’s where intertextuality comes in: taking a previous story or “text” and connecting to it in some manner. You may allude to it (artists call this “homage”), you may directly quote from it (Hollywood calls this “reboot”), you may imitate it (scholars call this “pastiche”), you may make fun of it (comedians call this “parody”) or you may blatantly rip it off (lawyers call this “plagiarism”). C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is basically a retelling of Christ’s crucifixion from the Bible. Bridget Jones’s Diary is a modern interpretation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And Bradley Cooper’s aforementioned A Star Is Born doesn’t just reimagine the original 1937 story and characters in a contemporary 2018 setting; it’s a remake so close to the source material that it even credits the original writers for the plot. But in searching for deeper meaning and understanding through the re-telling such stories, you would think that greater enlightenment would result from our efforts.

No.
PicturePhoto by Scabeater via Flickr
Not only do we not strive for originality, but our culture also doesn’t place much emphasis on creativity, either. “Out of the box” thinking is only accepted in deductive reasoning and problem-solving. Elsewhere, artists and authors are encouraged to follow established rules. In writing, such rules create “genres” (remember, your Lit class taught you that genre means “a category of artistic composition characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.”) Following the rules of any genre inherently limits originality. So your “original” work is doomed to be “derivative,” a copy or imitation of something else (I’m looking at you again, Bradley Cooper!) Why do so many horror stories take place “on a dark and stormy night”? Because storytellers use something universal like the weather as a sort of shorthand to artistically let you know that something “ominous”, “foreboding” or just downright “scary” is going to happen (in literature, that’s called a “motif”, using something concrete and natural to represent something abstract and unnatural.) So if you want to write that horror story, it won't be considered as much lest it contains some of those motifs and horror genre trappings. And of course, you will need a hero confronting an evil foe (see seven basic plot #1 “Overcoming the Monster”.) ​​

PictureImage via Wikipedia
So, how about mixing it up and changing the rules? Chances are, that too has already been done to create “cross-genres” such as Science-Fiction, Romantic-Comedy, Dark Fantasy, etc. Here, writers must play by another set of rules already established by others. Portuguese Nobel prize winner Jose Saramago, when asked about his daily writing routine commented, "I write two pages. And then I read and read and read." This reinforces the point constantly made by writing professors: by reading the works of others, you will be studied in effective storytelling. As a result, you can become “inspired” (hello, intertextuality!). So, in essence, we are all just exchanging ideas among one another, as Twain remarked all those years ago. ​​

It is clear that our ideas are not entirely unique. Our movies, music, and literature follow basic formulas and templates handed down through the generations. In fact, this rant on the lack of originality… isn’t even original. But what allows us to reconcile such repetitiveness is the authenticity that each of us brings to recycled ideas. We inject our own truth and insight into our creations. We shine a light onto our own frailties, vulnerabilities, and shortcomings in our stories. We examine ways to improve the human condition and evolve our society. The resulting work, however much unoriginal, is told through our own unique voice. The New York Times names authors Dave Eggers and Georges Simenon as prime examples of authors who are adept at bringing truth to their wholly repurposed narratives. Adherence to conventionality is accepted as long as the underlying truth has integrity.
Picture
Think of it as a cultural relay race, where the idea baton is handed off to the next participant, who then runs off with it before passing it along to another. Each new unique contribution inspires another contribution. In effect, this allows our contributions (read: “original ideas”) to live on beyond ourselves. So, if history and human nature have taught us anything, it’s a safe bet that more retellings of A Star is Born will be coming to a theater near you.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    thoughts on  writing, art, & new media by glassworks editorial staFF

     


    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    March 2013
    February 2013


    Categories

    All
    50 Shades Of Grey
    Adventure Time
    Amazon
    Art
    Audio
    Autocomplete
    Best Seller
    Bibliotherapy
    Books
    Bookstores
    Book To Movie
    Britannica
    Cartoons
    Censorship
    Characters
    Chooseyourownadventure
    Cliche
    Code Switching
    Controversy
    Drag Queens
    Dystopian
    Editorial
    Education
    Emoji
    Encyclopedia
    Facebook
    Fandom
    Fanfiction
    Fantasy
    Fiction
    Fight Club
    Film
    Football
    Future
    Gamebooks
    Game Of Thrones
    Gender
    Genre
    Google
    Google Poetics
    Google Poetry
    Grammar
    Habits
    Halloween
    Health
    Identity
    Insta-love
    Journaling
    Julia Cameron
    Kinesthetic Learning
    Language
    Library
    Literature
    Manga
    Marginalia
    Media
    Mental Health
    Morning Pages
    Multi Modal
    Multi-modal
    New Media
    Nihilism
    Nonfiction
    Normalcy
    Nostalgia
    Obscenity
    Op Ed
    Op-Ed
    Opinion
    Over The Garden Wall
    Pandemic
    Podcast
    Poetry
    Politics
    Pornography
    Pronoun
    Publishing
    Race
    Research
    Rhetoric
    Rules
    Sampsa Nuotio
    Scandal
    Science Fiction
    Search
    Self Publishing
    Self-publishing
    Sequels
    Series
    Sexism
    Slam-poetry
    Social Media
    Spoken Word
    Standards
    Steven Universe
    Superheroes
    Teaching
    Technology
    Television
    The Goldfinch
    The New York Times
    Trigger Warnings
    Trilogy
    Twilight
    Video Games
    Visual Novel
    War
    White Vernacular English
    Wikipedia
    Workshop
    Writing
    Writing Habits
    YA
    Young Adult

    RSS Feed

Picture

260 Victoria Street • Glassboro, New Jersey 08028 
glassworksmagazine@rowan.edu

All Content on this Site
(C) 2021 glassworks
Photos used under Creative Commons from RomitaGirl67, ** RCB **, George Fox Evangelical Seminary