The Elegant Variation: NOTE PERFECT (AND MORE POLITE THAN WE'D HAVE BEEN)

TEV DEFINED

The Elegant Variation is "Fowler’s (1926, 1965) term for the inept writer’s overstrained efforts at freshness or vividness of expression. Prose guilty of elegant variation calls attention to itself and doesn’t permit its ideas to seem naturally clear. It typically seeks fancy new words for familiar things, and it scrambles for synonyms in order to avoid at all costs repeating a word, even though repetition might be the natural, normal thing to do: The audience had a certain bovine placidity, instead of The audience was as placid as cows. Elegant variation is often the rock, and a stereotype, a cliché, or a tired metaphor the hard place between which inexperienced or foolish writers come to grief. The familiar middle ground in treating these homely topics is almost always the safest. In untrained or unrestrained hands, a thesaurus can be dangerous."

January 20, 2005

NOTE PERFECT (AND MORE POLITE THAN WE'D HAVE BEEN)

To be honest, we were a bit surprised when normally level-headed blogs ran this stuff so uncritically. And - as has been made clear - you can always count on ULA to leave out the parts of the story that inconvenience them. So yeah, we'll be part of the literary monolith and cease paying these mean-spirited bullies with megaphones any further notice whatsoever.

Following sage advice, we originally opted not to post publicly on this one but did respond privately to Wenclas' email. Given his propensity for manipulation and distortion, we thought it wise to supply the full text of our reply after the jump. Herewith the last reference to ULA you're likely to see in these pages. Unless Wenclas has the backbone to step out and meet us in the parking lot.

UPDATE: Maud has done yet more research worth your attention. And Ron weighs in. As does Laila. And as expected, Wenclas has selectively quoted us. Enough already.

UPDATE # 2: Galleycat revisits and recants but only muddies her waters further. A fuzzy dissection of allegations vs. motivations does little to cover the fact that these guys have been beating this ugly drum for ages and their motives have always been crystal clear and on display for all to see. Further, we find the assertion that "I shouldn't need a reason to read any blog post carefully" enormously troubling - if one is going to weigh in so publicly. There's really no excuse for this sort of carelessness when dealing with people's reputations - flu or otherwise. Sorry, G.C.

I have several reasons for not having yet responded to your email regarding your plagiarism post, the most mundane of which is merely that I've been too busy to sit and carefully peruse your post in anything resembling a meaningful way. And to truly respond responsibly, I would want to examine the source materials in their entirety, something I don't feel at all compelled to do.

Second, I am – understandably, I think – wary of your motives. Given Bissell's Believer piece on the ULA you've surely anticipated accusations of vendetta behavior. This is an example, I think, of where your group's tendency toward rabble rousing has undermined whatever credibility your case might (or might not) have.

Third, I am not an expert on plagiarism. It's a serious charge and I'm not comfortable formally weighing in in a public way with little more than an "I know it when I see it" approach.

And fourth, it does seem that whatever conclusion I might draw, the only person who can meaningfully confirm to deny – or least address – this is Tom Bissell. I can't presume to know his methods or intentions but my impression of him and his work is that he's a fine journalist. I also know it's certainly possible for fine journalists slip up, but he's the only one who can speak to that.

That said, my unscientific feeling is that of the nine examples on offer, I find four to be seriously questionable. So I think you're batting a bit less than .500, based on the examples on offer. (Russian culture is well known for its mordant humor, and the appearance of the same jokes is scarcely damning.)

So, at the end of this, my feeling is that there's enough here to ask Tom Bissell some serious questions, but not enough to brand him yet a plagiarist. But I do understand that taking a modulated approach isn't part of ULA's style.

Anyway, I don't have a strong feeling on this to make a public post yet. Perhaps Mr. Bissell will drop me a line with his side of things. Or not.

Mark Sarvas
The Elegant Variation

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Comments

Seriously, what up with the demands of such a quick turnaround? I have to pay the bills, son. Keeping myself in replacement marionette strings is hella expensive.

Plus, RP isn't even listed among the, what, top 6 demi-puppets? Fuck that shit. At least respect me enough to insult me in proper fashion: publicly, boldly.

Oh well. Back to suckling at Satan's teat, I guess.

Posted by: Rake | January 20, 2005 at 01:59 AM

As a hatchet man, Wenclas doesn't even come close to being as funny as the suddenly scarce Peck.

Wenclas is a thug and Maude and Laila's responses will, I think, triumph over his bellicose bullying .

I commend your response

Posted by: birnbaum | January 20, 2005 at 03:12 AM

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January 20, 2005