I had always wanted to read
Remix, but for whatever reason never got around to it. I think it has very interesting implications for the future of media, culture, and the Internet. But its relation to teaching composition is less clear. How do we use Lessig's concept of "remixing" in English 101?
Two obvious (and non-exclusive) options present themselves. We could introduce visual media into English 101, and have our students remix it in some way to create media of their own. Or we could attempt to teach them how to remix written texts.
The first of these is appealing from a theoretical perspective as it brings in all the sorts of multimodal conversations we have been having in this class. Students would learn to compose in a different medium, and to use others' work in an interesting new way. But I do not think this could be the sole focus of English 101, as written text needs to be incorporated at some point. This leads to the second option, of remixing written text.
This is a significantly less clear concept. What does it mean to remix text? Our students cannot simply take others' work and rearrange it in an interesting way to create a new text. At least not while fulfilling the goals of the university. But as Johnson-Eilola explained, all texts are related to other texts. Texts are, by their very nature,
already remixes. Lessig has a similar viewpoint:
"...remix with "media" is just the same sort of stuff that we've always done with words. It is how Ben wrote. It is how lawyers argue. It is how we all talk all the time. We don't notice it as such, because this text-based remix, whether in writing or conversation, is as common as dust. We take its freedom for granted. We all expect that we can quote, or incorporate, other people's words into what we write or say. And so we do quote, or incorporate, or remix what others have said." (82)
So if we are already remixing, perhaps we need to become aware of it. We need to show our students that they are remixing when they write an essay,
How do we do this? I'm not sure. We could stress to our students that they are participating in an ongoing discussion, show them the importance of entering that discussion. I think this is very important, if only because I was not told this until my senior year of college.
We could also allow the texts that students write to become the texts of the course. This has been mentioned briefly in English 501, but not really elaborated on. As I understand it, the idea is similar to showing students that they are entering a discussion, but instead of the discussion being between distant academics, they create the discussion in the classroom. The texts they write form the discussion, and future texts they write build on it. The students create a sort of microcosm of the academic community.
Whatever we decide to do, it seems clear that we have always been remixing, and that we will always remix. Maybe we just need to let our students know that they are too.