Abstract
Do we need reflexivity in order to be creative? Many would probably be inclined to see a connection between a contemplative attitude and creativity, an image deeply rooted in our (frequently) romantic conception of the genius (Montuori & Purser, 1995). Rodin’s well-known sculpture ‘The Thinker’ embodies this association, but it also opens up the question of what the creator is actually reflecting on. Reflexivity, as commonly defined in dictionaries, suggests turning towards oneself and, in this sense, if we assume Rodin’s ‘Thinker’ is engaged in an act of reflexivity, perhaps he is deeply immersed in thought about his own condition. Is he self-absorbed? There is a crucial difference to be made between reflection and reflexivity. The old story of Narcissus tells us he was so much in love with his own image, his own reflection (in the water), that he drowned trying to reach it. Turning towards oneself, in order to foster creative action, needs, on the contrary, to create a distance between observer and observed, not collapse these two positions.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Boussard, D., Louys, V., Richer, I., & Robert, C. (2015). ‘Comment avons-nous pu laisser nos élèves devenir des assassins?’. Le Monde, 14 January, p. 12.
Gillespie, A. (2006). Becoming other: From social interaction to self-reflection. Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
Glăveanu, V. P. (2015). Developing society: Reflections on the notion of societal creativity. In A.-G. Tan & C. Perleth (Eds.), Creativity, culture, and development (pp. 183–200). Singapore: Springer.
Glăveanu, V. P., & Lubart, T. (2014). Decentring the creative self: How others make creativity possible in creative professional fields. Creativity and Innovation Management, 23(1), 29–43.
Martin, J., & Gillespie, A. (2010). A neo-Meadian approach to human agency: Relating the social and the psychological in the ontogenesis of perspective-coordinating persons. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 44, 252–272.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self & society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Montuori, A., & Purser, R. (1995). Deconstructing the lone genius myth: Toward a contextual view of creativity. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 35(3), 69–112.
Torrance, E. P. (1988). The nature of creativity as manifest in its testing. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), The nature of creativity: Contemporary psychological perspectives (pp. 43–75). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 Constance de Saint-Laurent and Vlad Petre Glăveanu
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
de Saint-Laurent, C., Glăveanu, V.P. (2016). Reflexivity. In: Glăveanu, V.P., Tanggaard, L., Wegener, C. (eds) Creativity — A New Vocabulary. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137511805_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137511805_15
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-70246-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51180-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)