Heidegger on creativity: From boredom to re-engagement with the world

Experimental psychologists have discussed whether boredom can help us become more creative. At first blush, this would seem to be rather unlikely. When we are bored, we are disengaged; we cannot be bothered and nothing seems worthwhile; we have no interest in the world around us. Such a condition, surely, is not conducive to creativity (Haager et al. 2018). Yet some psychologists disagree (Gasper and Middlewood 2014). Boredom, they explain, breaks down entrenched routines and thought-patterns and provides us with an opportunity to think again and anew. Respondents in “approach-oriented states” such as boredom engage in more “associative thought” than those in “avoidance-oriented affective states.” This is how boredom comes to encourage “the quest for meaning and exploration” (Gasper and Middlewood 2014, pp. 53–55...2-s2.0-8508440789

Enacting authenticity: Peter Nichols' Passion Play and Søren Kierkegaard's Either/Or in dialogue

This article expands and develops current reformulations of the term ‘authenticity’ by juxtaposing Peter Nichols’s dramatic presentation of (in)authentic behavior in Passion Play, Søren Kierkegaard’s writings on authenticity, and recent studies in psychology and affective neuroscience. Re-thinking Kierkegaard’s views on identity and autonomy in relation to Nichols’s presentation of the experiences of betrayal, despair, and self-governance, the article explores how innovative theatrical performance may cause spectators to physically simulate various modes of existential choice, and elucidates the constitutive role played by bodily responses in the shaping of self-understanding and interpersonal communication. While sharing aspects of Kierkegaard’s category of the ‘individual’, as a person who is fully conscious of him/her self and takes responsibility for that self’s conduct, the model of authentic self-becoming that emerges from this discussion is anchored in a balance between attunement to bodily cues, self-directed reflection, and decisive action

Goosebumps, shivers, visualization, and embodied resonance in the reading experience: The God of Small Things

This article contributes to studies of the heuristic, metacognitive and social values of literary works by interrogating ways by which literary description can induce experiential involvement in the reading process through mobilizing what neuropsychologists call our “affective consciousness” (Vandekerckhove and Panksepp 2011: 2017): a form of pre-reflective reception that arises from bodily experience. Focusing upon Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, I propose a theoretical framework for interrogating the forms of priming, bias, and insight gained via these physical dimensions of reading. In particular, I examine a narrative technique I term “embodied anchors,” by which Roy conveys her characters' experiences, and their interpretations of those experiences, through image-clusters that function both as metaphors and as physical cues, simultaneously affecting both “basic” and “moral” emotions (as differentiated by clinical psychologists Olatunji and Moll 2007). I analyze how these embodied prompts activate readers' preconscious modes perception, modify cognitive skills, and intensify the effects of reading by anchoring ideational content in readers' bodies, rendering abstract concepts physically tangible, thus providing alternative and parallel means of communicating and manipulating knowledge. This knowledge, I argue, can be integrated into readers' range of experiences in ways that parallel 'real-life' encounters, potentially facilitating profound learning

Exploring the potential of the process drama convention of dramatised poetry to enhance anger-management skills in adolescent girls

This article investigates the way the methodology of process drama, and specifically the convention of dramatised poetry, can enhance the anger-management skills of adolescent girls. The article presents findings from a recent study that set out to teach anger-management skills to adolescent girls using process drama conventions. The argument explores the notion of process drama propounded by the prominent applied drama scholar Cecily O’Neill (1995) and the applicability of this methodology for stimulating the perception, awareness and identification of various forms of anger as prerequisites to anger management in adolescent girls. As the adolescent girl finds herself at the crossroads of childhood and adulthood, emotions of frustration and anger towards parents and peer groups often surface. It is therefore beneficial for her to be empowered with the insight and skills required to identify and manage her anger. The fictitious world within process drama creates a safe space where sensitive issues can be explored without uncovering personal issues. Poetry is, in many instances, loaded with emotional content and can therefore be used as a vehicle for considering emotional issues that would otherwise not be possible. This article therefore reports on a multidiscipline research project, namely the dramatisation of poetry, as a convention of the methodology of process drama, to enhance anger management, as an emotional competence in the 14- to 15-year-old adolescent girl.http://www.tandfonline.comtoc/rthj202016-05-30hj201