A Critical Theory of Creativity: Utopia, Aesthetics, Atheism and Design

by R. Howells

Overview

A Critical Theory of Creativity argues that a Utopian drive is aesthetically encoded within the language of form. But coupled with this opportunity comes a very human obligation which cannot be delegated to God, to nature or to market forces. As Ernst Bloch declared: 'Life has been put into our hands.'

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349685790
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/23/2016
Edition description:	1st ed. 2015
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Richard Howells is Professor of Cultural Sociology at King's College London, UK, where he specialises in visual and popular culture, together with cultural and critical theory. He studied at Harvard and Cambridge universities and lives in London and West Sussex with his wife, the designer Sarah Howson.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Visions -and Derisions- of Utopia 2. Ernst Bloch and Utopian Critical Theory 3. Homo Aestheticus 4. Case Study: Navajo Design, Culture and Theology 5. Archetypes, the Unconscious and Psychoanalysis 6. Roger Fry and the Language of Form 7. From Genesis to Job 8. Homo Absconditus 9. Conclusion: The Republic of Heaven

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A brilliant and magisterial overview of Bloch’s continued importance for today’s dystopian world. Howells combines breadth and depth in his analysis to show that whilst two or three are gathered in the name of critical thought, there is indeed hope for the future of us all ...” (Slavoj Žižek, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University, and International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities)

“In a time when critical and open debate about the role of religion in society has declined to one of name-calling and insult, what Richard Howells has done with this excellent book is to paint out that the intangible activities of the human animal are still both extremely important and up for grabs.” (Peter Thompson, Director of the Centre for Ernst Bloch Studies, University of Sheffield, UK)

Editorial Reviews

The great strength of Howells’s book is that it is, in the very best sense of the word, interdisciplinary. … his A Critical Theory of Creativity is a celebration of the human spirit and the ‘Christ-impulse’ that compels us all to hope even in the face of the inhuman. It is absolutely indispensable reading especially for scholars of Bloch who want to better understand how his ideas relate to the creative and the visual.” (Duncan Reyburn, English Academy Review, Vol. 33 (1), April, 2016)

From the Publisher