ABSTRACT
In what follows we would like to explore two general propositions: (1) ‘Creative writing’ doesn’t appear from nowhere. It has a history and is closely bound up with both the contemporary university and the current state of English (both as a language and as a subject of study). In particular, the recent surge in the popularity of ‘creative writing’ courses is intricately entwined with the history of the term ‘literature’ and with recent developments in literary criticism and theory. (2) Despite appearances perhaps, ‘creative writing’ often serves to delimit the liberating and exhilarating, but also fearful possibilities of language. In this, it shares something with the dictionary, which offers the following definition of ‘creative’:
Let us note first of all that the OED has no hesitation in identifying ‘creative writing’ with ‘literature’ and ‘art’. The OED definition is predicated on the basis of a firm distinction between ‘imagination’ and ‘intellect’. Thus ‘creative’ is differentiated from other sorts of writing (‘the merely critical, “academic”, journalistic, professional, mechanical, etc.’). But how seriously can we take this distinction? Is there nothing ‘creative’ about other sorts of writing?
