Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry (Modern Western Academic Library)

Author: Jacques Maritain
Translator: Liu Youyuan, Luo Xuanmin; Luo Xuanmin edited
France/France
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1991-10-01
Features: Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry consists of nine chapters, approximately 250,000 to 260,000 words. Chapters one and two serve as introductions, primarily defining or briefly discussing some of the fundamental concepts in the book. Chapter three delves into the main topic, thoroughly exploring the existence of the preconscious spirit and its role in artistic creation. Chapter four is a key chapter in the book. The author first discusses the sequence in which intellect, imagination, and sensation flow from the soul in one section, emphasizing the distinction between unconsciousness of the spirit and automatic unconsciousness. Subsequently, the majority of the chapter, spanning four sections, examines poetic intuition and its poetic cognition, elaborating in detail on the emergence, composition, and essence of poetic cognition. Finally, the author uses one section to discuss the essential difference between the spiritual creative self in poetry and the materialistic self-centered self in the mortal world. Chapters five and six explore the relationship between poetry and beauty, as well as the relationship between poetry and modern painting. The main focus of Chapter five is to argue that beauty is not the object of poetry but rather its "purpose beyond purpose." Chapter six, using modern abstract art as an example, emphasizes the decisive role of poetic intuition in artistic creation. Chapter seven is another key chapter in the book. Building on the distinction between magical cognition and poetic cognition, the author discusses the transcendence of poetry over art and the entire process of poetic experience from its emergence to its release. Finally, one section is dedicated to a central concept throughout the book—poetic meaning—elaborating on it in a concentrated and detailed manner. Chapter eight focuses on the so-called internalization of music. The author first introduces the concept of "music propelled by intuition," then analyzes the dependence of classical poetry on the musicality of words, and finally argues for the realization of musical internalization in modern poetry. The last chapter, Chapter nine, uses the creative work of the poet Dante as an example to discuss the specific manifestation and role of the three epiphanies of creative intuition in the work of great artists.