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`` The Ecstasy Of Influence `` By Jonathan Allen Lethem

Decent Essays

New ideas come from everywhere whether they are from people, places, books, animals, or even come from something as meaningless as silence; however, we don’t just get new ideas out of the blue, we have to be inspired and influenced by those elements to create new art. Unlike Plato’s Ion, which states that God speaks through the artists, Lethem’s The Ecstasy of Influence: A plagiarism; projects that inspiration comes from the influence of our surroundings which is the key to creation.
Jonathan Allen Lethem, a modern American essayists, writes the article in which he talks about how some artists see plagiarism as a wrong doing or stealing. Lethem disagrees with those artists’ point of view. He writes, “most artists are converted to art by art itself. Finding one’s voice isn’t just an emptying and purifying oneself of the words of others but an adopting and embracing of filiations, communities, and discourses” (Lethem 87). This means that there is an inspiration behind every artist’s work. The inspiration could come from something as simple as expanding another artists’ works. It is normal for an artist to be inspired by other artists, and then invents a work of art that is similar to his/her inspiration. For instance, Lethem gives an example of how South Park, the TV show, was inspired by Rankin/Bass and Charlie Brown Christmas specials. Most of the time, plagiarism could lead to a great work of creativity.
Today, almost all work of art, whether they are movies, books,

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