The philosophy of creative writing
Jordan-Baker, Craig (2015) The philosophy of creative writing. New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing. ISSN 1479-0726 (Print); 1943-3107 (Online)
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Philosophy concerns asking fundamental questions about practices: their meaning, how they function, what they presuppose and what makes them distinctive. Within CW, we often ask about the effectiveness of the workshop, classroom activities or we inquire about out subject's past and present distinctiveness. But the question of a philosophy or philosophies of CW has gone largely unasked. This paper considers a number of questions about how CW articulates itself in terms of its view of teaching, autonomy and the scope of CW research. The paper argues that if CW is to be an autonomous discipline, then various problems need to be addressed. It concludes by identifying two current schools, or philosophies, of CW: Integrationism and monarchism. Whereas the latter seeks to rationalise CW as an autonomous discipline, the former seeks to see it as part of a broader education in the humanities. Ultimately, the paper seeks to create a framework for a new area of investigation in CW scholarship.
A draft of this paper was presented at The Great Writing International Creative Writing Conference at Imperial College London in June 2014.
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