After having class yesterday, it made me think of the poetry we had read in my English class earlier on in the day. I chose a Tolkien poem to read, so Tolkien was still fresh in my brain when I was sitting in Multiliteracies class. As we were discussing the notion of a rip-off/remixes. it made me think of a Tolkien poem which he includes in his novel, The Hobbit. In this instance, Tolkien takes an older Mother Goose nursery rhyme and weaves it into a tale/song all in it's own. Is Tolkien ripping off a classic tale, ruining and soiling it to bits with Bilbo's pub shenanigans??? I think that if we are stimulated to create a whole new narrative out of one small phrase, character, or image which is ignited by a mind, we are simple just complimenting the original creation further by making such things become even more alive...Even if the Man in the Moon has a weakness for the drink!! This poem is similar to my post regarding "Once Upon A Time", in that it recreates a tale, but I takes themes and ideas and toys with them in a wayward, yet interesting fashion. Not only could students discuss the figurative language of the poem, but they could try to do a dramatic reenactment of the poem, since it quite vivid in imagery which isn't metaphorical.Also, they could just simply discuss why/how Tolkien fuses song within his narrative.
Ripoff, or simply a great way to cheers a beer??
THE POEM --> http://www.tolkien-archives.com/library/poetry/the-man-in-moon-came-down-too-soon.html
Hi Miss Leeson,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I would argue it is creative because according to the 'rip off' logic one could say Tolkein's other great works are derivatives of previous world myths, troupes and themes. What do you think ? Here is a another question : At which point is it okay for an idea , after it is repeatedly copied and incorporated into others' works, to be considered a troupe or theme that is part of the public domain? When we longer have to cite the author originator or have no idea where it came from?
I also wanted to add that this post itself is a creative act in that it brings Tolkein's poem from a previous context into the new context of debating the nature of creativity in the same way you walked from an earlier English class to the multi-literacies class. Then you created the post in a thoughtful manner and then added a picture to boot. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that Tolkien's works/poems are derivatives of past mythical minds, and I also think that if literary artists didn't weave in, and manipulate older works we wouldn't even acknowledge the word "Intertextuality". I think the borrowing from others to transform your own is an art, and a challenge in itself.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to your second question, most literary pieces do not necessarily acknowledge that they have copied, or incorporated different works, it as though they leave such a task up to the prior knowledge of the reader. That is to say, I do not think they manipulate texts to rip them off, but to see if the symbolic references, the metaphors, or a portion of a myth, etc., can be plucked out and negotiated by the reader. Oftentimes the author is not cited, but editors of anthologies acknowledge the allusion or intertexual reference to assist in the reader's understanding. Literature becomes a puzzle, a imaginative landscape to decipher and consider in connection to the ideas of predecessors.
Wow that was amazing.. I never thought of 'intertextuality' as just a fancy term for remixing. That just blew my mind! I also really like your observation that the deliberate use of remix is often called 'allusion' in literary circles. In high culture its called allusion, referencing and intertexuality but in popular culture it's called 'stealing'. Lastly, I like your point about how allusions add meaning to reader's understanding and that it doesn't have to be considered a deceitful act on the part of the author. Nice post!P.S. I tried to explain allusion to my students by suggesting that it's hyperlinking to another idea, webpage or text . I stole this idea from Douglas Copeland's use of 'hyperlinking' to replace of the word ' tangents' i.e. "I often hyperlink ideas" instead of " I go on tangents"
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