From the category archives:

Culture

What do you think of remix culture? Is the concept of plagiarism outdated? Should it be outdated?

Ms. Hegemann finds herself in the middle of a collision — if not road kill exactly — between the staid, literary establishment in a country that venerates writers from Goethe to Mann to Grass, and the Berlin youth culture of D.J.’s and artists that sample freely and thereby breathe creativity into old forms. Or as one character, Edmond, puts it in the book, “Berlin is here to mix everything with everything.”

via Author, 17, Says It’s ‘Mixing,’ Not Plagiarism – NYTimes.com.

I’m all for remixing, mashups, and creative plagiarism – provided its done with proper credit and attribution, and respectfully of other artist’s rights where applicable. Hegemann erred in presenting the work as exclusively her own, not the literary remix that it apparently is.

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Natives Maintaining their Racial Purity

by Rod Edwards on February 3, 2010

…by evicting non-natives from the Quebec reserve of Kahnawake. Specifically, they appear to be evicting 25 boyfriends & girlfriends of band members, who according to the community of 7,500, are a threat to their culture. 25 out of 7,500 – that’s a third of a percent – 0.33%.

Question 1: Is the Mohawk culture that vulnerable? Question 2: Is evicting other races really the best way to protect it? Question 3: Is there more story to what looks like a simply bizarre move?

Picture credit: Ericcson’s Blog

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