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Subjectivity

Subjectivity has been defined as the autonomous processes of an individual (Buchanan 2018, p. 36). However the modern refinement of critical theory has rejected this notion and thus states that an individual is composed by their understandings of the external world (Mansfield 2000, p. 13). This establishes the concept of ‘intertextuality’ in literature, which suggests an author’s individuality is dead, “The modern writer is born simultaneously with his text.” (Bathes 1967, p. 3). Fleetwood Mac song Rhiannon (1975) reflects this subjective principle as the lyrics are derivative of the supernatural mythology in novel Triad (1972). Inspired by Nicks’ songwriting, my practice strives to embody this mastery of character and place.

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Essentialism

Essentialism is characterised by the notion that a person inhabits both essential and subsidiary properties. Descendant from the word ‘essence’, this philosophy identifies the instinctive qualities that structure a personality and permit it’s existence, while additionally considering a person’s accidental traits. (Buchanan 2018, p. 12). It is a balance between necessity and possibility (Robertson, Teresa, Atkins & Phillip 2018). Kahlo’s Self Portrait as a Tehuana (1940) replicates this conception through her exploration of biological ‘fixed’ identities. After divorcing Diego Rivera, she reflects feminine essentiality through the placement of Diego which inherently links the female association of emotion, rather than masculine logic and rationality. This mirrors my creative goal of crafting intricate male and female characters within a narrative.

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Unconscious

The unconscious is recognised as the repressed active thought processes of the mind. Regarded in a topographical sense; the unconscious is seen to be accessed through dreaming, slips of the tongue (Freudian slips) and joking (Buchanan 2018, p. 38; Mansfield 2000, p. 28). When the pathways between the conscious and unconscious overlap, it is evident that a transformative truth is revealed (Fink 1995, p. 4). It is imperative to channel the unconscious throughout any artistic process as it establishes a work that is insightful to human nature. Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet (1991) conveys this insight through Fish Lamb’s traumatic hallucination, despite being mentally incapacitated. Thus highlighting the power of dreams as an entry into the unconscious. Relative to my creative practice through the layering of imagery to create meaning within a text.

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Overdetermination

Overdetermination is the Freudian theory which underpins the concept that all psychological subject matter reflects the deepest complexities of the unconscious. Freud suggests that even the most insignificant behaviours indicate the consistent battle fought against the mind’s inner wall of repression (Mansfield 2000, p. 29). Modernist, Wallace Stevens explores the theory of overdetermination throughout his poem Sunday Morning (1923) by confronting religious traditions. Through challenging individual’s that God does not exist, Stevens mocks Christian ritual and highlights the triviality of Sunday practices; further questioning where such aimless behaviours originate within the unconscious. Following this theoretical provocation, Stevens’ rhetoric abilities were recognised as, “…being absorbed into midcentury liberalism as free thought, free art, free poetry” (Filreis 1992). Throughout my practice as a writer, I aspire to create texts that are similarly stimulating and culturally challenging.

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Sensory Knowlegde

milk and honey, p. 50

milk and honey, p. 54

milk and honey, p. 89

Sensory Knowledge encompasses the idea that an individual builds a body of knowledge through the collation of sense-data (Craig 1976, p. 1). Thus highlighting that our worldly perceptions and experiences are the product of encountering all five senses. Howes reflects this conception throughout Skinscapes (2005), arguing that human knowledge is acquired through tactility and further informs our social consciousness, “…uniting perceptions with moral and cosmological values” (Howes 2005, p.28). Writers employ personal sensory imagery to mould their creative practice. Powderfinger song My Happiness (2000) replicates the experience of seeing and hearing a lover. While poet, Rupi Kaur, embodies the sensual images of smell, touch and taste in Milk and Honey (2014). Inspired by this subtle crafting of the senses, I strive to achieve this powerfully poetic imagery throughout my own writing.

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Creative Influence

Creative influence incorporates the idea that nothing is original; further denoting that all creative practitioners reproduce their inner thoughts and ideas which are externally inspired. This artistic process is further affected through the personal context of the artist, including elements such as the creative aims of a work and the time period in which it was created. As a writer, two artists that are outstanding influences on my creative practice include singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks and Australian author Tim Winton. Nicks claims inspiration from leading musical figures of the psychedelic era such as Hendrix and Joplin (Rolling Stone 2015), while Winton focuses on quintessential Australian landscapes. Although both artists have diverse writing approaches, they each incorporate their multi-sensory environments to establish powerful imagery that resonates deeply with a broad audience. This is the ultimate objective I wish to achieve within my own artistic practice.

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Authenticity

Authenticity has been interpreted as the idealistic intention of destabilising the unconscious and achieving a heightened knowledge and awareness of self that explains an individual’s actions and motives (Buchanan 2018, p. 3). Theorising the struggle between possibility and actuality, Existentialist Heidegger reveals this principle as a battle of understanding and state of mind. Although he prioritises the concept of optimum self-understanding, he identifies that an individual is truly authentic if they additionally recognise the power of the unconscious (Asadi Amjad 2014, p. 65). Italo Calvino’s post-modern novel If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller (1979) reproduces this self-awareness through the instructive role of the author. By underlining the unconscious acts and thoughts of the ‘Reader’ character, Calvino highlights his personal authenticity as a reader which translates through his autocratic writing. This artful style inspires my creative practice as it emphasises human complexities and clever narrative.

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Creative Identity

Creative Identity is the artistic portfolio a practitioner establishes for themselves through the accumulation of their social and cultural contexts, as well as their artistic ambitions in creating a body of work. Ben Quilty exhibits his creative identity through contemporary portraiture, where he visually delivers the horrific and confronting experiences of Australian people. Through his practice, Quilty further delves into the psychology of masculine emotion by annihilating Western stereotypes. By expressing a rawness throughout his art, Quilty has been recognised as one of Australia’s strongest contemporary painters; which was evident with his portrait Margaret Olley (2011) that claimed the Archibald Prize.

Quilty’s practice relates to my own creative identity, as I am similarly passionate about embracing Australian landscapes and people. Within my writing, I aspire to compose poetic narratives that addressing the unique Australian environment and the coming of age experiences it encompasses.

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Fractured Identity

The notion of inhabiting a fractured identity suggests that an individual is not solely composed of one identity, but rather embodies a renewing and multifaceted personality. An artist does not exist in solitude, therefore, highlighting the influence of the external world; which further enables individuals to absorb contradictory behaviours, and re-invent their identities. Barker suggests, “The subject assumes different identities at different times, identities which are not unified around a coherent ‘self.” (Barker 2012 p. 225). Television program, American Horror Story (2011) reinforces the concept of a fractured identity through the redefining of each character throughout every season. Through this, the writers have established a sub-narrative that links each persona to their past ‘self’ and experiences. I admire the authors’ cleverness throughout this fiction and hope to achieve a similar depth of detail within my own writing.

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Social Identity

Social identity refers to the self-awareness of a person within society. Regarded as a “knowledge of belonging”, social identity theory attempts to dissect the conception that an individual does not perceive themselves as an observer, but rather a participant in society (Ellemers 2010). This helps establish a creative framework for artists as they can identify relative social groups and contexts. S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders (1967) emphasises the ongoing struggle between the upper and lower social classes. Through a violently confronting depiction of a teenage boy’s adversity, Hinton reflects her own social identity as she examines the condemnation of youth groups throughout the 1960s. This emotionally charged novel inspires my creative practice as it embodies social landscapes relevant to a generation of young people.

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Bibliography

Archibald Prize 2011, Art Gallery of NSW: Ben Quilty, <https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/2011/28931/>

Asadi Amjad, Fazel 2014, International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature: An Ontological Vindication of Darl’s Existential Authenticity from a Heideggerian Point of View, < http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1024>

Barker, Chris 2012, Cultural Studies: theory and practice, (4th ed.), Sage, London, p. 255

Bathes, Roland 1967, The Death of the Author, Roland Bathes, France, p. 3

Buchanan, Ian 2018, A Dictionary of Critical Theory (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, p. 3-38

Craig, Edward 1976, Sensory Experience and the Foundations of Knowledge, Reidel Publishing Company, Holland, p. 1, < https://www.jstor.org/stable/20115122?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents>

Ellemers, Naomi 2010, Encyclopedia Britannica: Social Identity Theory, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc, < https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-identity-theory>

Fanning, Bernard 2000, Odyssey Number Five: My Happiness, Universal Music Australia, Melbourne

Filreis, Alan 1992, Beyond the Rhetorician’s Touch: Steven’s Painterly Astractions, American Literary History, < https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Stevens/talcoat-alh.html>

Fink, Bruce 1995, Language and otherness, in the Lacanian subject: between language and jouissance, Princeton University Press, p. 4

Hiatt, Brian 2015, Stevie Nicks: A Rock Goddess Looks Back, Rolling Stone, <https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/stevie-nicks-a-rock-goddess-looks-back-179984/>

Howes, David 2005, 'Skinscapes: embodiment, culture, and environment', in Classen, Constance The book of touch, Berg, Oxford, pp. 27-39 Kahlo, Frida 1940, Self Portrait as a Tehuana

Kaur, Rupi 2014, Milk and Honey, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Missouri, p. 50-89

Leader, Mary 1973, Triad: A Novel of the Supernatural, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc, Wisconsin

Mansfield, Nicholas 2000, Subjectivity: theories of the self from Freud to Haraway, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, N.S.W., p. 13-29

Murphy, Falchuk, Wong, Minear 2011, American Horror Story

Nicks, Stevie 1975, Fleetwood Mac: Rhiannon, Reprise Records, California

Quilty, Ben 2011, Margaret Olley

Robertson, Teresa, Atkins & Philip 2018, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Essential vs. Accidental Properties, Stanford University, California, <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/essential-accidental/>

Stevens, Wallace 1923, Harmonium: Sunday Morning, Alfred A. Knopf, New York

Wikipedia, Philosophy of Perception, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_perception>

Winton, Tim 1991, Cloudstreet, McPhee Gribble, Australia