Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
8-1993
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
English
Major Professor
Michael keene
Abstract
Distinctions between "plagiarism" and "collaboration" are not always clearly drawn. The resulting zones of overlap give rise to several serious problems for the teaching of writing. This dissertation examines and offers tentative solutions to these problems, based on discussion and historical analysis of the elemental key terms that define at a deep semantic level the paired terms "collaboration" and "plagiarism."
A re-examination of assumptions incorporated into existing definitions of elemental key terms reveals that too many ideological assumptions have been taken for granted, and that these assumptions have been relied upon to produce official academic policies defining plagiarism and collaboration that are no longer workable in the present changing intellectual climate. Definitions of these two concepts-and official policies based on these definitions-need to be revised to place stress more clearly on those qualitative and quantitative differences which do exist. More sharply drawn emphasis can then be placed on these differences-such as inequalities of power and a demonstrated intent to deceive on the part of the plagiarist.
A review of historical attitudes reveals that contingent "truth" produced through imitation, audience awareness, and collaboration has at least as long an intellectual history as "certain" truth produced through the internal, socially isolated dialectic most commonly employed by the solitary writer. Dialectic itself is shown to be socially and historically situated. Additionally, recent theoretical insights from contemporary rhetoric and composition scholars, critical theorists, and social psychologists give added force to the legitimacy of socially-based epistemologies.
These insights and conclusions offer specific applications to the individual classroom. Most importantly, definitions and policies toward plagiarism and collaboration should be reformulated so that "official" college and departmental policies do not contradict or undermine classroom practice. Ideally, such reformulation should foster successful collaborative writing and group authorship rather than lead inexperienced writers inadvertently to commit "plagiarism." Overall, the theory and practice of collaborative writing and plagiarism policy must be brought into closer alignment. Such a realignment offers a wide range of benefits for writing instruction, and promises to make the teaching of writing a more feasible project.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Henry Lawrence, "Defining the boundaries between collaborative writing and ownership of text : a rhetorical reassessment. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1993.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/10811