Creative Process And Freedom: A Near-Myth

Abstract

This article aims to focus on the comparative freedom of the writer in composing a text, or the reader in interpreting it. It has been argued that man is a free agent and whatever he writes, he is free in his thinking, writing, etc. This article postulates that his freedom of expression and thought is a near-myth, because essentially, he is not free.  His reality is that he is circumscribed and his creative process is under the impact of his circumstances which he cannot transcend. All talk of freedom in creativity is highly capped by man’s incapacity over certain processes which lie outside his control. A plant that comes out of the earth is a left over of the great invisible struggle between the growth potential of the seed and the devastating impact of the negative elements. Similarly, creation or interpretation of the text  is also a process in which freedom is not an absolute. Human mind works in invisible frameworks of time and the political tide.