(Fikri had some problems posting this on his blog, so I'm posting his entry here)
To me, understanding the concept of intellectual property and plagiarism as cultural products (western or capitalist perhaps) requires the same kind of intercultural communication strategies we would use to understand other cultural differences. Most scholars frame their opinions or research assumption/questions mostly on two perspectives: violation or sympathy (e.g., Pennycook 1996 vs. Deckert, 1993). Either of these tends to lead to either severely punish or loosely tolerate; both are not too helpful in forming a solid theoretical position.
As we have read in our readings, many scholars label their quest as 'cultural' (which to me sounds like 'in some cultures it’s ok to steal') when they say "some cultures promote social harmony". If they insist that plagiarism is cultural, which suggests that there is a cultural clash, then at least, they should also conduct their studies in light of intercultural contexts, such as examining the writing of international students enrolled in US classes, and not only of those using the foreign language in their own environment. Doing so surely would add more patterns of these cultural differences and thus, scholars would be able to clearly see which practices derive from cultural values and which do not.
This whole issue might not be cultural at all such as things that might apply to all people having been recently introduced to a new gadget and that the use of this new gadget is not a matter of cultural inquiry. Academic maturity is another factor that significantly determines plagiarism, not necessarily social harmony, instruction, or resource medium.
Revisiting World Englishes
14 years ago
On the contrary, I see this issue as the cultural aspect of intellectual property. In both issues you have mentioned, plagiarism and new gadget are new cultural practices, academic culture and electronic culture.
ReplyDelete"Academic maturity is another factor that significantly determines plagiarism, not necessarily social harmony, instruction, or resource medium." -- are you speaking from collective or individualistic view here?
I understand what you mean bee, but I do not see something that is (or to be) universally shared as cultural. To say stealing is wrong is not necessarily cultural, well it could be, if if problematize it. But, speaking from a view point of naturally born human beings, it is not of any urgency to include/view a newly gadget as meaningful cultural signifier.
ReplyDeleteWhen an unfortunate event occurs that is related to plagiarism in non-western cultures, scholars rush to say confidently that it is a product of cultural differences when in fact that is not always the case. Many students know that plagiarism is bad and illegal but yet they are still caught doing it. It is for such instances that I say academic maturity might also be in play, regardless weather we are from collective or individualistic cultures.
While I do acknowledge and appreciate all these effort being made to help people from other cultures like myself, I do think that we need to also bring some balance and some degree of objectivity into the argument. Giving ourselves voice does not have to come at the expense of others, including intellectual property owners :)
I think you are looking at the plagiarism issue from the western viewpoint here. Personally, the issue of plagiarism is not addressed in the academic context because we do not have such thing. Though many colleges are practicing it now, these professors are western-educated scholars.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of objectivity, I don't believe it does exist in the argument. However, compromising is another thing that we might look for. Also if you want to give yourself a voice, as Bakhtin's appropriation concept, I don't think we have anything much to say because all we have said is actually someone's else words anyway.