Lecture
1. Artistic talent
Psychology explains talent as the ability of the human brain to create and hold, for a
prolonged time, in a state of excitation a neural model of the goal toward which a person's
thought and activity are directed. The psychophysiological ability that facilitates the solving of creative tasks is regarded
as giftedness, talent. Talent is a highly developed human ability for a certain
kind of activity. Its components have a natural (innate) and cultural (acquired)
origin. The ability to see what does not fit within the bounds of a ready-made concept (even in the
process of observing familiar things or phenomena) is a sign of giftedness. It is ensured by
a particular quality and mode of thinking, for a person sees and hears not only with the eyes or
ears, but also with the brain. An artistically gifted individual is able to see what is
inaccessible to most people, since they lack such an ability. Creative
observational power, a special «starriness» of vision of the world – is an important prerequisite for literary
originality and novelty; 2) developed imagination.
A writer's giftedness is directly linked to cognitive-sensory and verbal
(word) experience, which is the material and basis of literary creation; 3) a retentive memory; 4)
fantasy; 5) ease and freedom of association; 6) intuition; 7) flexibility of thought; 8) wit;
9) the ability to promptly relate new information to prior experience.
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A talented writer reacts to changes in society and human consciousness, finding
in them what is most essential and characteristic at the level of artistic comprehension. Literary
giftedness also consists in the ease and skill of formulating thoughts and impressions, in a feel
for language and free command of its riches.
A writer's artistic talent is closely tied to his biography:
his knowledge and experience have a direct influence on his work, often becoming the life basis
of his works.
Artistic talent is a national treasure, a striking phenomenon in the history of every people.
It manifests itself in any social and historical conditions, provided its bearer is a strong,
charismatic personality capable of productive creative labor.
2. The birth of a creative conception.
A literary work is the result of intense, sometimes rather prolonged creative work. Its
creation encompasses several stages: the birth of the conception, incubation (a hidden period
of deliberation, elaboration, and maturation of the work), and the creation of the text. On the whole this is a continuous process,
one that begins unexpectedly for the author.
Within this structure the birth of the conception coincides with the moment of inner illumination, which
arises unexpectedly and unpredictably and is accompanied by the appearance of a number of ideas, and their successful
selection of the single, optimal variant. In general, the main stages in the birth of a creative
conception may be considered to be observation, the gathering of material, and the grasping of the essence (the «moment of truth»).
Observation. Any work of art is born in the writer's consciousness before it
takes shape as lines of verse or a prose text. It begins its latent (hidden) existence
already at the point when the future artist is capable of feeling and knowing the world, without yet suspecting
his own future creations. Consciousness is subjective. Therefore the analysis of the peculiarities of perception is an attempt
to unravel the originality of an author's creations.
Gathering of material. The accumulation and structuring of sensory, intellectual,
and moral experience may occur as a general process, and only at a certain
stage will everything be lit up by the flash of a «single insight», which is called the creative conception. Every
writer has his own method and manner of gathering material: one relies on chance
impressions, another accumulates material purposefully, and yet another is guided by creative intuition.
Every literary (artistic) work has, in its history, a moment that marked the beginning
of the countdown to its artistic shaping – the birth of the conception, which helps us understand why and
for the sake of what this work came into being.
3. Creative inspiration. Ever since human beings began to reflect on their artistic
creations, they have tried to understand one of the most mysterious and alluring phenomena of the creative spirit – inspiration.
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The meaning of artistic creation consists of several moments.
1. The invention of unusual, unexpected connections between the objects of artistic thought. Thus
associativeness is characteristic of the state of inspiration. In the moment of spiritual uplift the artist
frees himself from habitual stereotypes.
2. Activation in the reproduction of impressions (imagination). Human memory retains a multitude of impressions,
drawn from the past world, most of which seem to «freeze» or vanish. At a certain
moment some strange force stirs them out of dormancy.
The activation and reproduction of these impressions stimulates a particular mood. Under such circumstances inspiration
stimulates the discovery of oneself, of the depths of one's inner world. Imagination is most productive when the stream
of reproduced impressions is purposeful, organized around a thought, an idea, directly
connected with the creative conception. And as long as this stream does not weaken, as long as the mechanisms
of reproduction are not exhausted, the psychological tension of the creative flight will not fade.
3. Virtuosity of depiction (fantasy). Unlike imagination, which in the process of creative
uplift reproduces impressions in the form of an associative stream, fantasy reorganizes them. From
the reproduced information it creates a new world – an artistic one. In the process of creative, inspired
work, intuition is of great importance.
Questions for self-review
1 Explain the concept of artistic talent.
2. How is a creative conception born?
3. Name the conditions for the formation of a creative plan.
3. What is creative inspiration?
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