ZOMBOY wrote:
"I guess it started with Joseph Shaw pointing to a Hammet
story and saying, "write like this guy." And the authors
would try to write within that formula, but would also write
like themselves."
Years ago, I came up with my own theory of culture evolution.
I call it the "fuck-up theory of culture." Most artists, high
and low, start out by imitating their betters. Of course, not
being the same person with the same background, they cannot
perfectly duplicate them. Just as Pierre Menard in the Borges
story could not duplicate Don Quixote, even though the words
he wrote were identical. So it is to the amount that they
screw it up while copying that they become original. If the
artists are good, these "screw ups" will become the core of
their personal style (or is that craft? sorry, couldn't
resist). I later found out Jean Cocteau espoused a similar
idea.
Mark
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