Where lies the border between a trope and derivative imitation? A trope is, I’m supposing, derivative imitation that was imitated until it became an abstract imitation of itself—a useful concept with form, but without identity.
Is it just decided arbitrarily that an idea has been copied enough that it’s suitably defined as a trope? When the genesis falls from memory? Sometime, defined by some variable, there must be a transition. Does someone say, “Oh, this uses the (topic) trope!” and everyone just goes along with it?
Perhaps the general concept of what defines a trope presents significant obfuscation of fundamental conventions like genre, theme, and motif? It feels like they are often used interchangeably, and I think maybe that alters the way we think about the structure of stories.