Collaborative Circles: Friendship Dynamics and Creative Work
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Original price
$44.00
Current price
$34.15
Author: Michael P. Farrell
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0226238679
ISBN 13: 978-0226238678
Hardcover:
ISBN 10: 0226238660
ISBN 13: 978-0226238661
Many artists, writers, and other creative people do their best work when collaborating within a circle of like-minded friends. In a unique study, Michael P. Farrell looks at the group dynamics in six collaborative circles, and gives vivid narrative accounts of each: the French Impressionists; Sigmund Freud and his friends; C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Inklings; social reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony; the Fugitive poets; and the writers Joseph Conrad and Ford Maddox Ford.
From the Inside Flap
Creative work is rarely done by a lone genius. Artists, writers, scientists and other professionals often do their most creative work when collaborating within a circle of like-minded friends. Experimenting together and challenging one another, they develop the courage to rebel against the established traditions in their field. Working alone or in pairs, then meeting as a group to discuss their emerging ideas, they forge a new, shared vision that guides their work. When circles work well, the unusual interactions that occur in them draw out creativity in each of the members.
In a unique study that will become a rich source of ideas for professionals and anyone interested in fostering creative work in the arts and sciences, Michael P. Farrell looks at the group dynamics in six collaborative circles: the French Impressionists; Sigmund Freud and his friends; C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Inklings; social reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and the "Ultras" in the women's movement; the Fugitive poets; and the writers Joseph Conrad, Ford Maddox Ford, and their friends. Farrell presents vivid narrative accounts of the development of each circle and the roles each member played. He considers how circles form; how the leadership, group rituals, and interpersonal relations change as circles develop; how the dynamics of circles stimulate creative work; and why some circles flourish while others flounder.
About the Author
Michael P. Farrell is a professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is the coauthor ofSmall Groups Episodes and Men at Midlife.