Problems of quotation

Problems of quotation

Rather than the act of repeating words or phrases, quotation implies the appropriation of such material for authority or illustration. Both the term authority and the term illustration indicate power relationships among parties. Appropriation is an act of domination on the part of the quoting party over the party quoted, whether that party is author, text/discourse, or media, a combination, or any other material or entity.

The use of quotation for authority implies domination or an attempt at domination, both by the party quoting and by the material or entity quoted, over another party. This use also implies that the quoting party understands the quoted author both as authoritative and as supporting the stance that the quoting party takes in the issue at hand. Therefore, both the party quoting and the quoted party, by implication, have the same purpose when the former borrows from the latter. In actuality, however, such oneness of purpose often has little or no correspondence to the facts.

The use of a quotation as an illustration may avoid accusations of domination at first glance, but continued scrutiny reveals that illustration too lends itself to purposes of manipulative domination. The use of material as illustration does not necessarily imply the support of the source, even when used in a responsible manner; such material need only illustrate a point of the quoting party. This lack of a commitment to the original intent of author or text, even an implied commitment as perceived by the co-opting party, does not stop the reader from vesting such illustrations with whatever authority they would grant the material quoted. Thus, the use of illustration may make a claim to the authority of the work quoted, while denying any control over the use of that work to the author.

Similarly, use of quotation as a negative illustration or authority, i.e. evidence against the quoted party, denies control over quoted material to the quoted party. By removing materials from their original context, such quotation distorts their meanings. Meaning is also victim to the selective nature of such quotation. By choosing the selections and boundaries of the quotation, the quoting party may change the original meaning, either intentionally or unintentionally