Is Creativity Lost in Translation? A discussion of the cultural underpinnings of creativity (original) (raw)
Related papers
Contemporary Studies on the Concept of Creativity: the East and the West
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2002
This article reviews contemporary studies on the concept of creativity across two cultures-Eastern (Asian) cultures and Western (American and European) cultures-by examining two bodies of literature. One is on people's implicit theories of creativity across different cultures and the other is on crosscultural studies of creativity. Studies on implicit theories of creativity in the East suggest that many Asians have similar but not identical conceptions of creativity to many people in the West. Cross-cultural studies of creativity reveal that Easterners and Westerners differ, on average, in their divergent-thinking performance and creative expressions. A view of creativity as relatively culture-specific is presented and the appropriateness of using divergent-thinking tests to measure creativity is discussed. "You may never see a more beautiful movie and certainly no more majestic film has yet been made."-William Gallagher, BBC NEWS. "One of the best adventure movies of the last decade, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is also gravely and eerily beautiful; poetic and moving in ways that we usually don't associate with violent genre film."-Micheal Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE. "In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, director Ang Lee has produced the least interesting film of his career. He hesitated and then lost in his choices of pursuing either artistic or commercial success, expressing either romance or action, and attracting either Chinese or Western audiences."-XINSILU NEWS
V.P. Gl ă veanu (ed.), T e Palgrave Handbook of Creativity and Culture Research , Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture, 2018
In an increasingly complex, networked, and rapidly changing world, creativity has taken a central role. There is enormous interest in creativity in education, business, technology research, and emerging fields such as social innovation and design. Coupled with a proliferation of popular as well as academic discourses of creativity, this situation presents researchers with complex, multidimensional challenges that cannot be addressed exclusively from the perspective of one discipline. This new global context requires a transdisciplinary exploration of creativity, particularly since the articulation, expression, and practice of creativity appear to be in flux in society as well as in academia. The networked society, generational differences, and the focus on business innovation have turned attention to collaborative, distributed forms of creativity that have only recently begun to be studied systematically.
Creativity East and West: Preconceptions and Misunderstandings
2016
In this paper I consider how western lay conceptions of creativity and the tendency within educational circles to fail to interact with academic research on creativity may lead to intercultural problems for western-born language educators working in East Asian classrooms. I look at the sources of prejudice about East Asian creativity and try to place prevalent western lay conceptions in their historical context. I argue that these lay conceptions provide an unbalanced and culturally specific picture of creativity as a component of modern western individualism and consider specific pitfalls the EFL educator in East Asia may face.
The impact of culture on creativity
Creativity is a powerful catch phrase. In Western societies it epitomises success, the modern, trends for novelty and excitement. Whether linked to individuals, enterprises, cities or regions creativity establishes immediate empathy, and conveys an image of dynamism. Creativity is a positive word in a society constantly aspiring to innovation and "progress".
Culture, Creativity, and Innovation
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2018
This special issue enriches the study of creativity and innovation as a cultural and social process. Authors of nine articles jointly contribute to a nuanced and systematical inquiry into the cultural perspective of creativity. Their topics of investigation include lay conceptions of creativity in different cultures, different natures and manifestations of creativity and innovation, the influence of cultural values, norms, and multiculturalism on creativity, and the dialogical coevolvement between culture and creativity. The collection of articles in this issue presents cutting-edge evidence and lays the groundwork for an active dialogue about integrating the study of culture and creativity.
Beyond conventional Western views of creativity and innovation
Handbook of Management and Creativity, 2014
There is a long-held assumption that Asians are not creative. Books from scholars based in Asia with titles such as Why Asians are Less Creative than Westerners (Ng 2001) and Can Asians Think? (Mahbubani 2002) only seem to reinforce the stereotype that Asians are not as creative as their Western counterparts. This notion, however, has not stopped governments in Asia from investing heavily both financially and through myriad policies to support creativity and innovation across a range of industries within their nations. These initiatives range from promoting creativity through design, as exemplified by the newly established Singapore University of Technology and Design, to the Chinese government stimulating creativity in arts and culture by designating certain cities in China as 'creative centres' (Keane 2007). Other schemes include a variety of nation branding plans that are being implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan and Korea's highly successful support for local popular culture which has resulted in the so-called Korean Wave in East Asian countries (Chua and Iwabuchi 2008). This drive towards being 'creative' is no doubt due to the belief that creativity is an essential component for any country's economy where the significance of agriculture and manufacturing is in irreversible decline. In today's knowledge economy, creativity has been identified as the 'most potentially successful response for negotiating economic change' and is now credited for everything ranging from 'corporate innovation and technological advancement' to the 'rehabilitation of cities and advancing education and learning' (Banaji et al. 2010: 41, Cherbo et al. 2010: 37). Therefore, creativity is what will allow countries and companies to stay competitive in the knowledge economy in which ideas will spur economic growth. If we are to understand that creativity is playing and will play a large role in driving economic growth, it stands to reason that a perceived lack of creativity in Asia hinders this very growth.
2013
We can all play a role in nurturing creative mindsets; ' Creativity can be supported by parents, teachers, businesses, and even communities. As a matter of fact, it is very important that support is offered by everyone involved. A child growing up in a family that encourages creativity, in a culture that values creativity, with teachers who support creativity, has excellent chances of fulfilling his or her creative potentials'. Runco, 2013 Creativity is often thought of in individual terms. We can think of particular figures, such as Leonardo da Vin ci, Virginia Woolf, Ai Weiwei, or Steve Jobs, who are thought to have possessed so much creativity that they were able to transform the world around them. And we can buy books which tell us how to become 'more crea tive' and therefore change our own lives. Certainly, indi vidual creativity can be nurtured, supported, and devel oped, as we have seen in previous reports from the LEGO Learning Institute. But we can be equally sure that crea tivity does not flourish in a vacuum.