originality

This morning I listened to BBC radio 4's program on originality from march 2003 .
In the mp3 audio file at about 11:40-12:46 Prof Catherine Besley gives a short answer to the question: in what sense was Shakespeare original? Her answer is by way of an example, that Shakespeare invented the romatic comedy. But by invented here she means putting together themes/things that were already circulating in the culture. For example the Roman (?? did I hear this correctl) comedy that typically at the time invovles a young couple wanting to be married and a father who will do anything to stop it is adapted so that the emotional and psychological characteristics of the young couple takes centre stage - and here Shakespeare drew upon two other currents: the circulating medieval love stories and romantic poetry. Is Shakespeare's romantic then an example of what Lessig might call "rip, mix and burn", of Disney style innovation as described pp21+ in Free Culture? If so maybe the Shakespearean experts could elaborate on it - having the originality of Shakespeare depend on a stong / broad concept of access to the public domain can only strenghten the argument in the book. [Besley herself does not spell out the components of the public domain in stories and/or poems that Shakespeare drew on]
Towards the end of the broadcast there is also an interesting discussion of an important essay by T S Elliot that maintains originality is, and must be, steeped in tradition. (WHat was this essay?) What I took from the discussion is that to capture interest, an expression (text? image?) must be deeply knowledgeable of tradition and then modify it as in building blocks - tradition then is no longer viewed as a dead weight, but as a springboard, for originality; springboard in the sense of a modification of the traditional.


So what "is" originality? Originality in the sense of something novel, different, eccentric, individual, idiosyncratic was the focus of the discussion, but a most interesting alternative idea emerged: originality for the Romantics means something that derives from origins . Since, in this view, we all (almost all) share the same "original" stuff, originality is common, true to the origins, NOT eccentric and weird or different .... Then, we have the concept of indiviudal genius coming through to modify this view ...something that in theis Romantic view derives from a specific living gifted person individual self that truly (in its origins, endowment?) is different from the common oridnary type (me and u??) - coleridge, wordsworth......

IS the (this Romantic, gifted individual self concept) notion of originality relevant for today? the discussants and moderator seem to think not; indeed one of the opening shots is how could it be given the commonality of language?? citing voltaire, originality is "judicious plagiarism". The broadcast does not discuss, but only mentions, at the end, the notion of originality in scientific discovery and in academic degree granting -what would Voltaire say here??