Summary
In the essay Prehistoric Eyes, Guy Davenport dwells on the very important subject of creativity of the early years of humanity. The author speculates about the assumptions regarding the simplicity and even backwardness of the primitive art forms and exposes them as ungrounded based on the example of the art produced by the Dogon – the primitive people of Mali and Upper Volta. Davenport emphasizes the ambiguity and complexity of art: even the most simple art forms can bear complex meanings, and a speculation about art will always be nothing more than a speculation in the eyes of the creator (Davenport, 62).
The article Secrets of the Creative Brain, Nancy C. Andreasen discusses her search for connection (or lack of thereof) between being a genius and suffering from mental issues. The author brings up the instances of early inquiries into this connection and presents the course and the results of her own study of the topic in the attempt of answering the question of what makes a person a madman, a genius, or a mad genius. The main idea which Andreasen entertains is that, although nurture plays a big role in rearing a future creative genius, nature is the most important factor. However, very often superior creative abilities come hand in hand with mental issues of varying severity. This idea is summarized elegantly in the concluding sentences of the essay.
Various features of the texts discussed above allow to conclude that they are intended for a broad well-educated audience who take interest in the issue of creativity. Not surprisingly, the structure of both essays is quite similar: the authors start with an anecdote (the Dogon and Kurt Vonnegut), develop their main point based on the anecdote, and conclude with their main point expressed creatively and metaphorically. Davenport's and Andreasen's essays study creativity from different perspectives, which was very helpful in enhancing my own understanding of this phenomenon. Creativity is hard to explain precisely because it involves the way of thinking which is greatly different from the common one.
Dear Mother,
I know that you take my growth as a person very closely to your heart. I know that you would not be able to bear me leaving you in the dark regarding my progress and my thoughts. Besides, it is clear that you take more than just a parental interest in the subjects to the studies of which I am currently devoting many of my waking hours. To show you that I am thinking about you, that I love you as ardently as a good and obedient child must love his mother, I am writing you this letter where I ask you to consider the product of my humble thoughts.
The last several weeks were quite fruitful in terms of my understanding of how the creative power of the human mind works and what stands behind the ability to amaze others with the impact of one's written word. I took a great interest in studying this most engaging phenomenon from two perspectives: the scientific approach and the self-assessment of the writers who managed to achieve great heights in their craft. In this letter, I will dwell on three pieces which left me most thoughtful and prompted me to think critically.
The first – scientific – approach towards creativity is usually quite fruitful, but it is a pity that the impressive results of the scientific inquiry in this field generally rarely make their way to the vast readership in an engaging and clear form. The article Secrets of the Creative Brain by Nancy C. Andreasen, published in The Atlantic in the issue of July/August 2014, is a very intriguing exception from the tendency mentioned above. While it is a scientific piece adjusted for the casual, but well-educated adult reader, Andreasen's essay is more than just a casual inquiry into the connection between the polar states of a brain – insanity and creative superiority. Apart from the study itself, it contains a great deal of information on the topic which, I believe, you will find most engaging and useful.
First and foremost, Secrets of the Creative Brain is good to read because of the profound view it presents on creativity in terms of being a genius and a madman. The author ends the article by a statement worth becoming an aphorism: “Some people see things others cannot, and they are right, and we call them creative geniuses. Some people see things others cannot, and they are wrong, and we call them mentally ill. And some people, like John Nash, are both” (Andreasen). This conclusion calls for further thinking: how come there is basically the same phenomenon behind the striking superiority over others and what we consider the striking inferiority. Yet, another reason to read Secrets of the Creative Brain is to embrace other findings of Andreasen's research which might be helpful in personal and intellectual development. The researcher pinned down several traits which were common for most creative people, namely the inclination to self-education, are proficient in many fields, and are resolute despite criticism and disbelief of the others (Andreasen).
As to the second field of inquiry that I described earlier, I humbly bring your attention to the essay Why I Write by George Orwell. I remember that you were greatly impressed by Orwell's works of fiction, such as 1984 and Animal Farm, and I am greatly convinced that non-fiction by this writer will not leave you indifferent.
George Orwell was a writer who found the strength to speak out inconvenient truths when others chose not to talk about them. This trait of Orwell's is clear in the essay Why I Write as well. In the age when writing in many ways became a political instrument, it was very important to be honest with oneself and discern clearly one's motivation for producing a piece of writing. This is the kind of honesty the modern reader finds in Why I Write. In cold blood, the author dissects the process of writing and combines several approaches to creativity in order to present a picture of verbal creativity which would be as full as possible. This essay is a great read for a person who seeks to understand deeper the urge to put down one's thoughts into words.
According to Orwell, there are four kinds of motivation that pushes people towards a pen and paper - “sheer egoism”, “aesthetic enthusiasm”, “historical impulse”, and “political purpose” (Orwell). One can say that this is quite an exhaustive account of motivation towards creativity. The essay, however, prompts to think further: while explaining the drives which push a person towards writing, it does not explain the essence of creativity, namely why some become good writers and others poor ones.
After reading Why I Write, it would be thought-provoking and instrumental to read a reflection essay by another person who finds his way with words – the poet William Stafford. Unlike Orwell's essay, A Way of Writing explores creativity from a more associative point of view – an angle that appeals to feelings rather than logic. It allows to take a look at the backstage of creating beautiful and ever-lasting pieces of verbal art. From the very beginning, Stafford puts forth an arguable statement: “A writer is not so much someone who has something to say as he is someone who has found a process that will bring about new things he would not have thought of if he had not started to say them” (Stafford). In other words, Stafford brings the inquiry into creative writing to a whole new level: instead of simply assuming that it is a writer who controls the process of writing, the reader starts to consider that it is the process of writing which leads the writer to saying things. This observation calls for looking at the creative writing from a different perspective and, like it always happens when you take the pain of observing one phenomenon from different angles, yields unexpected conclusions. Having written down my humble remarks, I hope that you will take a great interest in the works I have mentioned. I also hope that this letter will leave you pleased by the course my education and my thinking has taken recently. The three works I wrote about are the ones that resonated deeply with my mind and my heart, so I do not hesitate to recommend them for your reading as well.
References
Orwell, George. “Why I Write”
Stafford, William. “A Way of Writing”
Andreasen, Nancy C. “Secrets of the Creative Brain”.
