Creativity and Beyond

by Robert Paul Weiner

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Author: Robert Paul Weiner

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0791444783
ISBN 13: 978-0791444788

Explores how historical, artistic, and technological developments and cross-cultural exchange have altered our conceptions of creativity.

Creativity and Beyond offers a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary tour of cultures past and present to examine the different ways people have conceived of “creativity” and how the common understanding of creativity is changing in the current flux of global culture. Weiner analyzes the ways in which understanding creativity is tied to broader contemporary patterns, including intellectual concerns with postmodernism; trends in the arts; the changing status of women; the power of the electronic media; multiculturalism; developments in psychology, science, and technology; and the dramatic political, economic, and social transformations of our age.

From Library Journal

In this ambitious, fascinating, copiously referenced work, Weiner (John F. Kennedy Univ.) traces the interpretation and application of the terms create and creativity as they have evolved in the Western world over the centuries. Enriching this sweeping historical perspective, which begins with prebiblical gods and creation myths, is the discussion of the meanings and roles of creativity in the uniquely structured American environment and comparisons with Chinese, "traditional," and some other "non-Western" cultures. Weiner also explores the personal and cultural obstacles to creativity and the shifting tensions between the new and the established, and he emphasizes how, in the emerging global culture, the definitions and values of creativity are changing. This stimulating treatise, based on a compendium of history, philosophies, and trends culled from a wealth of disciplines, is highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
-Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfred
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“…ambitious, fascinating, copiously referenced … highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries.” ― Library Journal

“Not before the early modern epoch did we in the West start reflecting on our amazing creative potential, and seldom did our reflection venture beyond our own time and space. In this book Robert Paul Weiner takes us on a tour to our past (biblical as well as classical) and to the civilizations that surround us, showing the presence of a creative drive in even the most ancient and traditional ones. We emerge from it with new insight, yet also with new wonder for the mystery of being human.” ― Louis Dupré, Yale University

“We are a culture built on and obsessed with creativity; it is very important that books like this explore creativity, and this one does so from a novel point of view.” ― Louallen Miller, Sonoma State University

“The author considers creativity from a myriad of viewpoints and over a long period of time. He injects fascinating examples, vignettes, and hypotheses. I have been interested in creativity for many years and I have never seen the topic treated as coherently and as completely as Robert Weiner does in this book. I found the book fascinating.” ― James L. Adams, author of Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas and The Care and Feeding of Ideas: A Guide to Encouraging Creativity

About the Author

Robert Paul Weiner has served as Coordinator of Liberal Studies at St. Mary’s College of California, and Chair of Liberal Arts at John F. Kennedy University. He is currently a writer, teacher, and consultant on multiculturalism and creativity.

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Creativity and Beyond