Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing
1st Edition
Published on 11. December 2025
272 pages
978-1-350-52268-8 (ISBN)
Description
The first book to investigate, analyze and theorize the creative processes of literary writers, Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing uses author interviews, manuscript genetics and textual evidence to explore creativity from the authorial perspective.
Studying an author's practice, literary form and contextual contingencies as elements that affect literary creativity, Karin Kukkoken develops theoretical models for examining the age-old problem of artistic creation and how it has been put to works by authors from the nineteenth century to the age of digital fiction, across a range of languages. With insights from the cognitive sciences, anthropology and philosophy of mind as well as literary studies, the book calls upon interviews with Siri Hustvedt, Marina Warner, Anne Weber, Camille Laurens, Gwenaëlle Aubry, Kate Pullinger, Gunnhild Øyehaug, Maria Stepanova and György Dragomán and studies the manuscripts of Charlotte Brontë, Cora Sandel, Elsa Morante and Italo Calvino.
Overcoming the traditional distinction between creative agent, process and creative product, Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing is as accessible and illuminating as it is important to understandings of human creativity.
Studying an author's practice, literary form and contextual contingencies as elements that affect literary creativity, Karin Kukkoken develops theoretical models for examining the age-old problem of artistic creation and how it has been put to works by authors from the nineteenth century to the age of digital fiction, across a range of languages. With insights from the cognitive sciences, anthropology and philosophy of mind as well as literary studies, the book calls upon interviews with Siri Hustvedt, Marina Warner, Anne Weber, Camille Laurens, Gwenaëlle Aubry, Kate Pullinger, Gunnhild Øyehaug, Maria Stepanova and György Dragomán and studies the manuscripts of Charlotte Brontë, Cora Sandel, Elsa Morante and Italo Calvino.
Overcoming the traditional distinction between creative agent, process and creative product, Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing is as accessible and illuminating as it is important to understandings of human creativity.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
5 bw illus
ISBN-13
978-1-350-52268-8 (9781350522688)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Karin Kukkonen
Creativity and Contingency in Literary Writing
Book
approx. 01/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€118.60
Not yet published
Person
Karin Kukkonen is Professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Oslo, Norway. She has published several monographs, including Probability Designs (2020). Having previously held positions in Finland and the UK, she now leads the interdisciplinary centre "LCE - Literature, Cognition and Emotions", where she established the LCE podcast which explores how literature shapes thoughts and feelings.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgements
A Note on Translations
Introduction: The Second Book Problem
Chapter 1: Contingency Traps: Form to Contingency
Chapter 2: Contingent Selves: Contingency to Form
Chapter 3: Why One Form and Not Another? Form to Practice
Chapter 4: Paper, Type-Writers and Screens: Practice to Form
Chapter 5: Provoking Chance: Practice to Contingency
Chapter 6: Found Objects, Lives and Words: Contingency to Practice
Conclusion: When It's Finished
Appendix I: Overview of Interviews
Appendix II: Overview of Manuscripts
Appendix III: Citations in the Original Languages
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
A Note on Translations
Introduction: The Second Book Problem
Chapter 1: Contingency Traps: Form to Contingency
Chapter 2: Contingent Selves: Contingency to Form
Chapter 3: Why One Form and Not Another? Form to Practice
Chapter 4: Paper, Type-Writers and Screens: Practice to Form
Chapter 5: Provoking Chance: Practice to Contingency
Chapter 6: Found Objects, Lives and Words: Contingency to Practice
Conclusion: When It's Finished
Appendix I: Overview of Interviews
Appendix II: Overview of Manuscripts
Appendix III: Citations in the Original Languages
Bibliography
Index
