Ingenuity's engine : an overview of the history and development of the concept of the muse

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The growth of any discipline depends on the ability to communicate anddevelop ideas, and this in turn relies on a language which is sufficientlydetailed and flexible (Singh 1997: 59).Many metaphors relating to creativity are too misleading, confusing, andrestricted in scope for a meaningful exploration of the phenomenon and itsfluctuating social and cultural contexts. Given the Muse's long-term associationwith literature, philosophy, education, and more recently, the fine arts and othercreative fields, an analysis of this concept may provide a unique opportunity togain insight into the mechanisms underlying the creative process. Sinceaffiliation with the Muse appears to have signalled attainment of critical culturaland/or social status by cultural practitioners in various societies, from the ancientto the present (a category which was broadened substantially), it is thus logical toassume this concept encompasses and has accumulated characteristics particular tothe creative process as historically and currently valued in Western culture.Given the limited scope of the thesis, I have focused on specific concerns:1) Provide an overview of the history, origin and development of the conceptvia specific examples ranging from antiquity, the medieval period, and themodern.2) Assess the changes which have occurred in the development of theconcept, and postulate likely causes: such as for example, the impact of anincreased focus on the visual - and by extension, the physical - due to a moreliterate populace, on a concept originally conceived of as experienced throughpredominantly audial means.3) Identify closely related concepts, the characteristics of which may haveplayed a role in the formulation of the initial concept, along with thoseintegrated into it, to form the modern version of the Muse: examples includethe influence of the myth of Pygmalion on notions regarding the poet'srelationship with both material and Muse; and the consequences of anamalgamation of characteristics of Aphrodite with those of the pastoralMuse. 4) Explore the extent to which the Muse-poet interaction can revealfundamental aspects of the creative process and its main components: thedifferences between the public invocation and experience of the Muse in anoral context, as opposed to the privately experienced Muse of the literatepoet; also, the changes imposed on the concept's perceived means offunctioning due to its extension to the practice of the visual arts; and thecorrelation between the Jungian notion of the anima and aspects of theMuse.5) Postulate the fundamental aspects of the creative process as revealed byanalysis of the concept of the Muse for further investigation.In brief then, the main intention of this thesis is simply to examine byanalysis of particular examples, the feasibility of applying the concept of the Museas metaphor through which to identify for further exploration, issues and themesrelating to the production and changes in social assessment of creative enterprises.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University