Imagining the Possibility of Unconscious “Plagiarism”
Recorded in Chinese
Reading about plagiarism disputes, I think about remembering my responses to books more clearly than their exact words. Could writing what feels like my own response unintentionally carry an author’s wording or structure?
00:00 I've recently seen many reposts on Douban
00:06 condemning people for plagiarism.
00:11 When I read articles like those,
00:15 I find myself wondering—
00:17 I compare my own experience
00:20 and notice how it differs from others'.
00:25 For instance, when I read a book,
00:28 I can't remember
00:31 everything the author wrote.
00:35 When I discuss that book
00:41 or that work with someone,
00:43 I usually talk about how it made me feel.
00:46 Sometimes I'm not actually sure
00:50 whether those feelings echo the author's.
00:55 That uncertainty might carry over
01:00 to when I write
01:02 something of my own.
01:05 What if something I write—
01:08 something I think is my own feeling—
01:10 is actually something the author said?
01:15 What would I do then?
01:18 Because I really am
01:21 this kind of person.
01:25 I can't remember
01:27 exactly what an author said.
01:29 I can only speak from feeling.
01:31 But I truly can't guarantee
01:34 that I won't mix my feelings
01:41 with the author's original words.
01:45 So I also wonder
01:47 whether people accused of plagiarism
01:50 might possibly
01:51 have experienced the same thing as me.
01:57 They think they're writing their own feelings,
02:00 when those feelings
02:02 actually reproduce the author's phrasing and structure almost exactly.
02:09 Could that possibility really exist?