Lethem’s letters

 

The March issue of Harper’s had a fascinating examination of plagiarism, The Ecstasy of Influence, by Jonathan Lethem (author of Motherless Brooklyn, Fortress of Solitude and most recently You Don’t Love Me Yet). By doing that which he propones, he shows the merit and necessity of borrowing words and ideas in the realm of creativity. What seemed fluid and original, one discovers at the end of his essay, is actually a masterful collage which he dutifully annotates at the end, in a grand reveal.

In the April issue, Lawrence Lessig writes in the Letters section, slapping Lethem’s wrist in the vein of a father proudly and lovingly reprimanding his son. He confesses his respect but that he was troubled, especially “when I found buried in the text the only sentence I have ever written that I truly like.” Such an honest complaint, stirring up the very heart of the matter in plagiarism, which, Lessig acknowledges, has been blown out of proportion. We sometimes have a very personal and possessive relationship to our creations- be they words, apprentices, or progeny. It’s our pride that’s at stake. Lessig does not tell us the sentence, and he points out that the panacea is as simple as a pair of quotation marks.

And yet this is exactly what Lethem argues against, while admitting that Lessig is his “personal hero, among public advocates.” Quotes rightfully have a place in “academic, scientific, or journalistic discourses” but not so in art, the inspiration for his piece. “In assembling it, I was aware of my own impulses to beguile, cajole, evoke sensation, and even to manipulate…Artists are, among other things, mischievous, and we should try to remember that we wish them to be.”

I am struck by how basic an issue they have stumbled upon is here, without really getting to discuss it. Must we choose whether we write history, science, journalism or ART? In the realm of internet writing (which I sometimes think is belittled by calling them all under the rubric of Blogs) where must we draw the line? If one reads a largely political blog, can we not expect art to sneak in, or does that cause the whole tower of accountability into question, and potentially demand its demise? For so long blogs didn’t get their due because there was no institutional requirement to cite sources, and yet, trends today largely show that the most respected and legitimate blogs link to our most respected and legitimate news sources.

-Zoe