Throughout school, any one in my generation of English majors have touched on on the battle of modernism vs postmodernism. I think it is important to think about two things when comparing this battle to intellectual property, technology and profit. "We cannot separate writing from the economic sphere. We can attempt to keep access open, but we can no longer ignore intellectual property laws and pretend that they will go away." (212) Why will intellectual property laws no go away?... technology and profit. It is obvious that there is an information super highway it is easily accessed, yeah yeah yeah. Because of the easy access it is easy for people to charge money for their work. "Oddly, although we frequently lament the fact our students mist now pay copy write permission fees for material in the coursepacks we ask them to purchase for our classes, we don't often think about the postmodern shift that resulted in this situation." (209)
Before this article, I thought about this postmodern shift as a step toward a peaceful all knowing society where bunnies run, and people are free to share ideas. Now I realize the only reason there has been a shift from modernism is because if peoples drive for profit.
Its all about he Benjamin's
I too find the line between plagiarism and intertextuality to be very vague. At what point is it vital that the legalities of it all be introduced? It is sad that it has become the way it is causing so many wars to occur between writers. I won't attempt to build on this much more, you did a great job of it yourself. Good work!
ReplyDeleteAustin- Really stimulating stuff this week. I'm concerned though, because I feel as if you can trace these shifts back farther than the duality of modern and post-modern society. The shift into modernism was actually a change of much affluence-- technological invention reaped market profit, industry grew and began to boom, and literature watched Romanticism die (along with the decline of the environment and those bunnies you mentioned). So, I follow your line of argument but I'm not sure I totally buy it... since this is merely amplified in post-modernism instead of emerging. If you want to look at IP and WIPO exclusively then I think you may have some grounds, but I thought I'd through in my two-cents since you were planning on researching this for another class.
ReplyDeleteLet me play devils advocate for a minute. If the argument you pose is that convictions are the result of money paid on one side or the other, is that an IP problem or an issue of law? If we have a court problem we have to at least attack the right area to see an accurate solution. I don't think we can find that legal answer until we can define the issue. I suspect your statement and Johnson-Eilola's that dollars are the cause falls short of all the issues in the question.
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