Writerly dynamics and culturally situated authentic human existence in Amalia Kahana-Carmon’s theory of creative writing

Abstract

This study concerns the theorizing of selfhood (rather than creativity), especially in narrative psychology. It is argued that creative writing mediates self-understanding in distinctive ways that are different from autobiographical narration. A concept of writerly dynamics, to do with the reciprocity between writing narrative fiction and the writer’s self-understanding, is introduced and posited as a complex process that involves creative opportunism, a consolidation of an imaginal space within the texts, and mythopoesis. The theory is illustrated with a detailed case study of literary writer Amalia Kahana-Carmon, focusing on the longitudinal interplay between the artistic themes of her fiction, her theory of creative writing, and ultimately her identity as a writer, all of which should be considered as culturally situated.

Keywords

Creative writing self-understanding dialogicality narrative fiction Hebrew literature

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