02-19-2016, 04:21 PM
we've recently had a log thread discussing this.
Allusion is different from plagiarism, and footnoting or quoting allusions defeats the purpose. Why allude at all of the idea is to make it obvious? Why not annotate every line of a poem then?
One may choose to do it, but it should not be enforced as a rule.
The Waste Land is 60% allusions, for instance.
The difference between an academic paper and a poem is that in the former, allusion serves no purpose. In a poem, on the other hand, allusion serves the definite purpose of enriching emotional content, by slightly opening the door to a shared consciousness. The moment you italicise or put within quotes such allusion, it stands out uncomfortably from the body of the poem.
Take, for instance:
The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne,
Burned on the water...
------ Antony and Cleopatra
The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble...
---A Game of Chess (The Waste Land)
That stray reference to Antony and Cleopatra conjures up a world of images, of opulent luxury, not just of Cleopatra's barge, but of the particularly rich poetry of the play itself. There are several conscious and subconscious associations that result from this.
This is allusion without direct repetition. There are also examples of the other kind in Eliot.
For instance, from 'The Fire Sermon' in the Waste Land:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song (Spenser, Prothalamion)
Musing upon the king my brother's wreck
And on the king my father's death before him. (Shakespeare, The Tempest)
The decision on whether or not an example of allusion is plagiarism should be taken by the mod on a case by case basis, I would argue. One useful thing about allusion is that it can work only for 2-3 lines. Anything going over that limit is more likely to be a direct rip off. So it isn't that difficult to spot.
Note to mod: please move this post to the Discussion forum if you feel that is where it belongs.
Allusion is different from plagiarism, and footnoting or quoting allusions defeats the purpose. Why allude at all of the idea is to make it obvious? Why not annotate every line of a poem then?
One may choose to do it, but it should not be enforced as a rule.
The Waste Land is 60% allusions, for instance.
The difference between an academic paper and a poem is that in the former, allusion serves no purpose. In a poem, on the other hand, allusion serves the definite purpose of enriching emotional content, by slightly opening the door to a shared consciousness. The moment you italicise or put within quotes such allusion, it stands out uncomfortably from the body of the poem.
Take, for instance:
The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne,
Burned on the water...
------ Antony and Cleopatra
The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble...
---A Game of Chess (The Waste Land)
That stray reference to Antony and Cleopatra conjures up a world of images, of opulent luxury, not just of Cleopatra's barge, but of the particularly rich poetry of the play itself. There are several conscious and subconscious associations that result from this.
This is allusion without direct repetition. There are also examples of the other kind in Eliot.
For instance, from 'The Fire Sermon' in the Waste Land:
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song (Spenser, Prothalamion)
Musing upon the king my brother's wreck
And on the king my father's death before him. (Shakespeare, The Tempest)
The decision on whether or not an example of allusion is plagiarism should be taken by the mod on a case by case basis, I would argue. One useful thing about allusion is that it can work only for 2-3 lines. Anything going over that limit is more likely to be a direct rip off. So it isn't that difficult to spot.
Note to mod: please move this post to the Discussion forum if you feel that is where it belongs.
~ I think I just quoted myself - Achebe