From Plagiarism Today:
Cryptomnesia is defined as “The appearance in consciousness of memory images which are not recognized as such but which appear as original creations.” To put it more plainly, it the idea that we can recall things we’ve seen and heard but remember them as being original, rather than outside influences.
As we discussed in 2014, the topic is something of a taboo in plagiarism circles. Acknowledging that cryptomnesia is real opens the door to many plagiarisms being wholly unintentional, making it possible to accidentally plagiarize.
Plagiarism is widely seen as a strict liability offense, meaning that plagiarists are often held responsible regardless of their intent. But, if one can plagiarize due to a faulty memory rather than negligence or malice, the very premise of strict liability is called into question.
To make matters still more complicated, there’s a heavy debate about whether or not cryptomnesia is real or, if it is, to what extent it’s possible. That problem is made worse by the fact that so many caught plagiarists have falsely claimed to have had it happen, making it difficult to find real and confirmed cases.
. . . .
Perhaps the best-known and most-debated case of cryptomnesia is Helen Keller.
Keller, as most likely know, was born in 1880 and went blind and deaf early in life but, with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, went on to become an author and activist. Her autobiography, The Story of My Life, would go on to be adapted as a series of movies and plays entitled The Miracle Worker.
In 1891, when Keller was just 11 years old and had just learned how to write, she submitted a story entitled The Frost King to the head of the Perkins School for the Blind, which published it in their Alumni magazine. It was then picked up by the Goodson Gazette, a journal on deaf-blind education, that pushed it to a broader audience.
However, the next year, it was discovered that the story had a strong resemblance, including at least some lines, to another story entitled Frost Fairies by Margaret Canby.
In The Story of My Life, Keller recalled what happened. According to Keller, she could not recall having been read Frost Fairies or the book it was in. However, after some investigating (with the help of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell) it was discovered that, while she didn’t own the book, she spent a summer a few years prior at the home of Sophia Hopkins, Sullivan’s mentor, while Sullivan was on vacation. There, she claimed, she was read the story.
Keller was tried by a school “court” that consisted of four sighted people and four blind ones. They interrogated her and was eventually split 4-to-4 on whether she had knowingly plagiarized. The tie-breaking vote was cast in Keller’s favor by Michael Anagnos, the head of the Perkins School and a friend of Keller.
. . . .
Keller said this was because she had a difficult time separating what was original to her from what was read to her, saying, “Likewise my compositions are made up of crude notions of my own, inlaid with the brighter thoughts and riper opinions of the authors I have read.”
She went on to say that, “But the fact remains that Miss Canby’s story was read to me once, and that long after I had forgotten it, it came back to me so naturally that I never suspected that it was the child of another mind.”
Link to the rest at Plagiarism Today
there is an idea/hypothesis called morphic resonance; it means an invention might be thought up by 10+ people across the world at nearly same time frame, same with isms, and dichos.
I think the KELLER story of ‘her being read the story by whatser’ is pretty leif of science based evidence. I think of the many folk stories so called, from the icy north of america landmass, the scandinavian countries, all countries where there is autumn and winter. there are literally more than I can count.
There is an archetype of ‘the rescue and the return.’ It is an ancient pattern in most all things from time out of mind. The archetypal leitmotifs appear to rise into consciousness for all who listen to their dreams and sudden inspirations. No need to ‘steal’ from anyone.
The imagination of each person is rich beyond rich, which one is reminded of in spades when one teaches little ones and sees the incredible fantabula they bring into being without ever having stolen from anyone, without ever having read or been read to the great fables and myths from across the world.
My .02; there is a story making function in the psyche. But one has to pay attention and not denigrate nor neglect it, nor to abandon nor stifle it
Exactly. That’s why I use The Neverending Story as example.
The Servants of the Nothing(SON) are actively trying to convince people that what you said is nonsense, when it describes the process to a T.
Our job is to tell the stories, to keep Fantasia full and alive, to feed us back more stories.
All writers steal from each other. Not the exact words usually, but idea. Sometimes words too. I would like a turn of phrase and write it down in one of my stories, but there is always a chance I’ve already read it somewhere and liked it. And remembered. Maybe… It could be years ago, and I don’t remember who wrote those words, but there is a finite number of combinations of words in the English language. Whatever I write now, surely someone has written it in the past 500 years.
We are all drinking from the same well. There are no new stories, only variations on a theme, because we are all using the same Language of Imagination.
I would say that there are two kinds of writers:
– those who write for the love of it, using the Language of Imagination, writing what they want
– and those who are terrified of sounding like stories that came before, and thus cripple themselves, and stop writing.
(Those crippled people go into a frenzy at any hint of plagiarism.)
I would say that, but I’m sure someone else already has and I will be accused of “plagiarizing” the point. HA!
The whole point of looking for “plagiarism” is in the academic world where professors have to grade papers, and they want people to do their own “original” work. When in reality, any student who tries to do “original” work fails the class. Been there, done that.
The other part of academia is people make their living by getting grants to write, and those grants are controlled by committees that devour anyone who strays too far from the norm, and pounce on any hint of plagiarism so that the person can be righteously cast out.
Remember, the website, Plagiarism Today, makes its living discussing/finding plagiarism.
People do plagiarize, whether consciously or not, but:
– Once you start looking for “plagiarism” you will find it everywhere, just as when you see the “floaters” in your eyes, all you can see are the “floaters”.
The only answer is to stop looking. HA!
This might end up a proper use for some of those highly touted “literary analysis” tools: letting an author compare their early draft against published material in their chosen genre.
There are already tools that can “fingerprint” music.
https://www.blisshq.com/music-library-management-blog/2012/08/21/what-is-audio-fingerprinting/
I bet George Harrison was “afflicted” by cryptomnesia when he wrote “My Sweet Lord.” I doubt that he consciously tried to copy the song…
What’s the old saying about stealing from one is plagiarising, where stealing from many is merely research?
If you’ve been reading for decades there’s no telling what little titbit that ‘feels’ like a new idea that you saw/read/heard long ago.
I play traditional Swedish fiddle tunes. I have an online “tune book” of more than 2000 such tunes at http://BlueRoseMusic.org
Like many traditional musicians, I compose tunes “in the style” from time to time. In doing so, nothing is more sinister when reaching the end of a newly-composed A-part, than to have the B-part just come rolling out of one’s imagination. It’s a sure sign that I’ve heard the damn thing before. I’ll stop, look through tunes of a similar style, and typically I’ll find the source. Even when I can’t find the source, I don’t trust the originality of the composition.
As with oral formulaic poetry, even traditional forms whose constituent parts and rules are limited have room for plenty of originality in the overall work. If something seems overly familiar, it’s usually for a very good reason.