Long TextExercise 67 of 81

The cult of originality that pervades contemporary creative culture is, on close inspection, a remarkably recent and geographically circumscribed phenomenon. For the greater part of recorded history, and across the overwhelming majority of the world's artistic traditions, the highest praise that could be bestowed…

• How does the writer characterise the pre-Romantic understanding of artistic achievement?
• What consequence of the Romantic elevation of originality does the writer consider harmful?