- In America (novel)
"In America" is a
1999 novel bySusan Sontag which won theNational Book Award in2000 .Although it is fiction, it is based upon the true story of the Polish actress
Helena Modjeska , called Maryna Zalewska in the book, her arrival inCalifornia in 1876, and her ascendacy to American stardom. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/28/books/28cnd-sont.html?ei=5090&en=f88d1db2e18c3c3b&ex=1261976400&pagewanted=all&position= Obituary of Susan Sontag, New York Times, December 28, 2004] ]Sontag was accused of
plagiarism by Ellen Lee, who discovered at least twelve passages in the 387-page book that were similar to passages in four other books about Modjeska, including a novel byWilla Cather . (Cather wrote: "When Oswald asked her to propose a toast, she put out her long arm, lifted her glass, and looking into the blur of the candlelight with a grave face, said: 'To my coun-n-try!'" Sontag wrote, "When asked to propose a toast, she put out her long arm, lifted her glass, and looking into the blur of the candlelight, crooned, 'To my new country!' " "Country," muttered Miss Collingridge. "Not 'coun-n-try.'") The quotations were presented without credit or attribution. Sontag said about using the passages, ""All of us who deal with real characters in history transcribe and adopt original sources in the original domain. I've used these sources and I've completely transformed them. I have these books. I've looked at these books. There's a larger argument to be made that all of literature is a series of references and allusions." [Carvajal, Doreen (May 27, 2002) [http://partners.nytimes.com/library/books/052700sontag-america.html "So Whose Words Are They? Susan Sontag Creates a Stir."] "New York Times Book Review."]References
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