Plagiarism : the cultural outbreak

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dc.contributor.advisorHambidge, Joanen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorVerstraete, Claireen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-06T12:15:49Z
dc.date.available2014-10-06T12:15:49Z
dc.date.issued2006en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe aim of this study is a conceptual and theoretical exploration of literary plagiarism. Chapter One traces various definitions of plagiarism and contrasts plagiarism with copyright infringement. It is argued that plagiarism is a social construct which cannot be defined solely in terms of textual features and must be contextualised. Authorial intention and reader reception play a key role in the discourse of plagiarism, since both reveal the prevailing contemporary textual ethics underlying textual production. The literature review in Chapter Two analyses the ways in which plagiarism has been interpreted in the last fifty years contrasting essentialist definitions of plagiarism with postmodern theories of plagiarism as a discourse of power. Plagiarism is contextualised within modern and postmodern aesthetics. In Chapter Three, the discourse of authorship as a stable and unified category is destabilised and challenged. What counts as plagiarism is argued to be inseparable from changing valorisations of authorship. Paradigms of authorship are then contrasted to illustrate how textual values change from one era to another, affecting dominant representations of authorship and plagiarism. Originality is explored as the pivotal construct on which the Romantic model of individual authorship depends - the model in which our current views of plagiarism have their origin. The plagiarist or 'nonauthor' is commonly viewed as everything the author is not: a copyist, unoriginal and immoral. Chapter Four analyses this construction of the plagiarist in the context of a South African case study in which Stephen Watson, Head of Department of English at the University of Cape Town, accused writer Antjie Krog of plagiarism. An analysis is made of the debate which ensued in a South African online journal, as well as of the press documentation surrounding the case. An interview was also conducted with Watson once the debate subsided. The conclusion reached from this study affirms that plagiarism is not an easily definable phenomenon since it depends on cultural notions that are in flux. Social, economic and technological changes also bring to bear on the literary institution, models of authorship and the consequent treatment of plagiarism. By enlarging the range of motivations for textual practices traditionally labelled as plagiarism, this thesis argues for a new conception of plagiarism, one that engages various discourse participants and contexts.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationVerstraete, C. (2006). <i>Plagiarism : the cultural outbreak</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8226en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationVerstraete, Claire. <i>"Plagiarism : the cultural outbreak."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8226en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationVerstraete, C. 2006. Plagiarism : the cultural outbreak. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Verstraete, Claire AB - The aim of this study is a conceptual and theoretical exploration of literary plagiarism. Chapter One traces various definitions of plagiarism and contrasts plagiarism with copyright infringement. It is argued that plagiarism is a social construct which cannot be defined solely in terms of textual features and must be contextualised. Authorial intention and reader reception play a key role in the discourse of plagiarism, since both reveal the prevailing contemporary textual ethics underlying textual production. The literature review in Chapter Two analyses the ways in which plagiarism has been interpreted in the last fifty years contrasting essentialist definitions of plagiarism with postmodern theories of plagiarism as a discourse of power. Plagiarism is contextualised within modern and postmodern aesthetics. In Chapter Three, the discourse of authorship as a stable and unified category is destabilised and challenged. What counts as plagiarism is argued to be inseparable from changing valorisations of authorship. Paradigms of authorship are then contrasted to illustrate how textual values change from one era to another, affecting dominant representations of authorship and plagiarism. Originality is explored as the pivotal construct on which the Romantic model of individual authorship depends - the model in which our current views of plagiarism have their origin. The plagiarist or 'nonauthor' is commonly viewed as everything the author is not: a copyist, unoriginal and immoral. Chapter Four analyses this construction of the plagiarist in the context of a South African case study in which Stephen Watson, Head of Department of English at the University of Cape Town, accused writer Antjie Krog of plagiarism. An analysis is made of the debate which ensued in a South African online journal, as well as of the press documentation surrounding the case. An interview was also conducted with Watson once the debate subsided. The conclusion reached from this study affirms that plagiarism is not an easily definable phenomenon since it depends on cultural notions that are in flux. Social, economic and technological changes also bring to bear on the literary institution, models of authorship and the consequent treatment of plagiarism. By enlarging the range of motivations for textual practices traditionally labelled as plagiarism, this thesis argues for a new conception of plagiarism, one that engages various discourse participants and contexts. DA - 2006 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2006 T1 - Plagiarism : the cultural outbreak TI - Plagiarism : the cultural outbreak UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8226 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/8226
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationVerstraete C. Plagiarism : the cultural outbreak. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures, 2006 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8226en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Languages and Literaturesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherCultural and Literary Theoryen_ZA
dc.titlePlagiarism : the cultural outbreaken_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPhilen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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