MC Guffee 9/11

“Are there books which say what they mean…without depending directly on other books?”

Leaving class on Thursday, I could not believe the depth at which intertextuality affects our entire lives. From books to movies, and magazines to television shows, the writers behind today’s media outlets are increasingly innovative. But in what sense? Barthes notion explains that all text is bolstered by that texts predecessors. Meaning, writers depend on previous writers to aid their production of text in order to produce valuable knowledge for readers.

This concept leads me to two questions: What does this notion say about the creativity of the writer? And how does an individual writer’s work feel original?

At first, this quote seemed to discredit the writer by saying their entire work is simply based on reinventing the old. All the life changing books we’ve read in our education aren’t original. They have taken bits of knowledge strategically from past writers to help convey their personal message. In a way this seems to tarnish the reputation of the writer as a mimic rather than creator. Thus, it brings me to question how a writer creates original work, and what about their work feels original when actually dependent on previous texts.

Further contemplating Barthes concept, I began to realize it is the challenge of creating an original work despite the influence of previous texts that makes the writer tick. Innovating a preceding narrative structure or interconnect new ideas into old manifestos to create revolutionary concepts, the writer strives to consider the old as they innovate the new. This shines light on the incredible adaptability of the writer to take into account every previous text, yet produce something that feels completely new.

After class I almost felt ashamed of my desire to become a screenwriter because so much has already been said and resaid on screen. Yet deeper reflection has renewed my aspiration in the sense that the challenge of writing is to produce something that both reads and feels unique despite whatever influence predated texts may have. That I believe constitutes original work in a career field of reinvention.