Last week, I mentioned what I call my First Law of Literature: “There is no such thing as an original story.” I'd like to come back to this thought as I announce the launch of a great new educational website.
We place so much pressure on ourselves and out students to be “original,” when the truth is, originality, frankly, is overrated. The creative process is as much about rearranging old ideas in new ways as it is about coming up with something utterly new.
Case in point: take out your cellphone. Yes, I know you have one on you. I'll bet you a month's supply of anything that your phone has a camera on it. Whether you take pictures with it or not, whether you even know how to use it or not, it's there. Now, the camera is hardly a new invention, and for that matter, neither is the cellphone. But somebody had the great idea of taking these two things which already existed and combining them in a way that they hadn't before. The idea caught on so thoroughly that nowadays, good luck finding a cellphone that doesn't have a camera on it.
Old ideas being combined in new ways; there's a term for this: remix.
Now, many people hear “remix” and automatically think in terms of music – DJ Somebody hunched over a pair of turntables, operating enough switches and knobs to operate a B-2 bomber. But remix exists outside of music as well, and, in fact, has a long and noble history in art, literature, history, as well as in music.
When an author is looking for an image, idea, verse, or what have you, they will invariably look to those works which influenced them. In the case of the “classic” works of literature, the ones most of us had to suffer through in school, the authors' inspiration tends to come from one of three sources: The Bible, Shakespeare, or mythology. Parallels to the Christ story can be found everywhere from Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea to Harry Potter. Lines, characters, and plots have been stolen from Shakespeare for centuries – not that he can complain; he was pretty blatant himself when it came to remixing. And mythological stories of gods and heroes have inspired our modern heroes, in subtle ways (Superman/Hercules), and more direct ones (Marvel's Thor).
More modern sources tend to have more modern inspirations, and popular culture is fertile ground for remix. Popular music, cinema, gaming, etc., lifts so blatantly from one another that one could go on forever drawing parallels between them all. So, rather than ignore the elephant in the room, why not embrace it?
To this end, my brother and I have been working on projects designed to use remix as an educational tool – encouraging students to explore their creative sides by working with a set list of raw materials that can be combined in new and unique ways, limited only by their imagination. We're currently collaborating on a chapter in an upcoming textbook (details to come), but the companion site for this chapter is already up and running:
This site, brand new and expected to grow, will be a collection of ideas, materials, and links to incorporate remix into classroom activities and projects. The projects have varying technology requirements, but for the most part, anyone with a computer and internet access should be able to do them.
I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what people do with the materials provided on the site. I only wish I could take the credit for what's been done there, but it was my brother who originally conceived the idea of educational remixing; I edited and rearranged it for the site.
In other words, I remixed it. Enjoy.
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