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Boundaries between Informative and Creative Writing
In Children's Literature
Mehdi (Mehran) Hejvani PhD
Abstract
Regardless of differences between prose in Children's and adult's literature, writing
for children itself, can be divided into Informative and Creative Writing. However,
sometimes these two kinds of writing could create a third kind of "cross-creature",
that is, "Information" and "Entertainment" or "Infotainment" which emphasizes the
necessity of Education and Entertainment’s accompaniment. In addition to
presenting differences between prose in children's and adult's literature, this article
is going to show and exemplify the main differences between Artistic or Fictional
writing (story & poem) and Scientific or Non-Fictional writing (News, report,
article, essay, biography, travel literature and memory) for children. As it seems
one of the most important reasons for why writing for children cannot satisfy
authors’ ultimate goals, is that they do not aware of the different characteristics of
the creative and informative writings.
This article will discuss in details how Artistic writing versus Scientific one:
Artistic Writing
Takes from imagination and effects
sentiments and emotions
Scientific Writing
Roots from logic and effects thoughts
and understanding
Refers us back to humanity and depicts
the objective reality of it
Is concerned with details
Distances itself from the human
position
Is more concerned with the whole
Gives an intuitive conception
Provides and recording the reality
Can not be affirmed or disaffirmed
Is verifiable, can be affirmed or denied
Induces feelings
Expresses meanings
Has ambiguity and obscurity, open to
different interpretations
Triggers the subconscious
Is direct and precise and to the point
Shows the individuality and personal
Depends on intentional and attentive
elements
Emphasizes on common sense and
style
shared elements of thought
Is aesthetical
Is Functional
Breaks the formulas, forms, rules and
Seeks to form formulas, rules and
norms to reach an organic order
norms
Table 1 – Artistic writing versus scientific writing
Keywords:
Children's Literature/ Informative writing/ Creative writing/ Artistic writing/
scientific writing/ Fictional writing/ Non – fictional writing
*****
Introduction
Goals
Key concern in this article is an attempt to step closer to an
understanding of the concept of creative writing in children’s
literature. Since defining any concept based on its true essence is
some what impossible, another path is reaching a clear distinction
between this concept and the concept of communicative writing as it
stands in juxtaposition to it. However, although the focus of this
article is on children’s literature, yet it can be expanded to apply to
all literatures in general.
Significance
First place is the general significance of children’s literature and its
role in shaping the world of a child and the passage through
childhood and entering the world of adulthood. In the second place it
deals with the specific idea of some of the experts in literary and
pedagogical fields that formation of a children’s literature is
essentially “impossible”. Jacqueline Rose, for example, believes that
children’s literature has an artificial nature. Because the interaction
between the children and adults is somewhat based on an undeniable
gap between the adult writer and the child audience. (Rose, 1988) On
the other hand another scholar Maria Nikolajeva in her work
Aesthetic Approaches to Children's Literature attempts to point out
the aesthetic aspects of children’s literature. (Nikolajeva, 2005) I
have also discussed that topic in my work Aesthetic of Children's
Literature and critically reviewed Rose’s approach and other
scholars with similar approaches and defended the “possibility of
formation of children’s literature” , emphasizing on the fact that if
we can consider an essence for children’s literature, aesthetic is its
essence and pedagogy is the substance. (Hejvani, 2010) I have
emphasized that perhaps one of the reasons that some scholars have
rejected the literariness of children’s literature or have not considered
aesthetic aspects for it is that they have overlooked the distinctions
between fiction and nonfiction. Here in this article I attempt to focus
on more clarifying the boundaries. Therefore the second angle of
importance is that of the aesthetic values of children’s literature.
Another point regarding the importance is that inconvenient mixing
of artistic prose and scientific prose equally damages both fields, in
terms of artistic creation and the study of art.
Background
Years of academic experience and theoretical studies in the field of
fictional writing and children’s literature, has brought the writer of
this article the opportunity to ponder over and write on the
differences between the two fields of fictional prose that is a product
of creative writing and the non fictional prose that is the product of
informative writing. The distinctive line between the two fields has
been made more and more determined and in this particular article I
aim to discus the most recent classification. Prior to this I have not
encountered any specific and detailed classifications in the related
texts and studies.
Opposing Terms
The opposing terms concern the concepts of fictional writing and
nonfictional writing or creative writing and informative writing or in
other terms artistic writing and knowledge.
Methodology
This study followed a library based, descriptive and analytical
methodology.
The added impediments in defining creative writing
A complete and conclusive definition or what one might call an
“exact definition” is one based on the essence of a subject. In other
words a definition must essentially describe the characters and
dispositions that are distinctive and specific to that subject.
(Almuzafar, 1980: 78-79)
But to give an exact definition of “creative writing” we encounter
more problems, just as we encounter problems in defining art,
because:
A brief review in the history of theoretical studies in the
field of art reveals a vast expanse of ideas and
multiplicity of insights and approaches. In the ancient
times as well as the post renaissance up to modern times
the collective view of the theoreticians was that one
might find a single exact definition for aesthetic beauty
and art. The problem was that each one of them naturally
insisted on their own definition of these subjects. But in
the more recent times providing an exact and definitive
definition has been avoided. In fact the changes in the
fields of art as well as philosophy, makes this task even
more difficult. Today many of the philosophers of art
believe that we can not reach an exact definition of
beauty to be critically true at all times and ages. (Ahmadi,
2005: 77)
In the contemporary era too, the post modern movement denies
the connection between the subject and the definition: And once
there is no connection, the art is nothing but portraiture. The
characteristic of the modern times is that providing definitions is
not feasible and what remains is the word play in definitions.
(ibid: 474-476)
So if providing a definition is impossible, or at least a very
difficult task, naturally defining terms related to the field of art
and creativity is even more difficult. In another discussion and
considering the different topic there we did draw closer to one of
the approaches on defining art, and that was to define art from
the “game” angle (Hejvani, 2010: 18-21)
As the old saying goes that things are defined by their opposites,
we attempt to understand the essence of creative writing with the
help of a concept standing before it, informative writing.
Regardless of the differences between children’s prose and that
of the adults in terms of brevity, simplicity, consideration for the
childhood experience, the faster pace and the focusing on
tangible evens and things rather than conceptual entities and
ideas, children’s’ prose can be divided into two categories:
Fiction and Nonfiction.
The boundaries between fiction and nonfiction prose
We
have to consider two important notes:
First
What we mean by creative prose is the type of prose as
fiction writing (Novels, plays. Screenplays) poetry and
passages, and what we mean by informative prose is the
prose as seen in informative texts such as news reports,
essays, biographies, travelogues and memoirs.
seen in
literary
type of
articles,
Second
The emphasis on the separation is to avoid mistaking the two terms
for one another. Also it means that their instruments of function, their
functions and their goals are different. Despite this explanation we
might emphasize that these two concepts although independent from
one another, could be intermingled.
Every type of art has content beside its aesthetic aspects. This means
that although we believe that beauty is the essence of art but any type
of art, willingly or not besides its aesthetic aspects has content. And
that substance or content is pedagogic. But there is no art empty of
all educational effects. On the other hand the educational and
pedagogic material shows the type of unity and harmony or in a
manner show signs of beauty and aesthetics. In other words beauty is
not inherent in their essence and we might find a scientific text
empty of all aesthetic aspects as we know.
Another point is that despite the independence of these two
categories they can be mixed together to bring about what I call a
“mixed raced” by-product. This creates a concept similar to the
“infotainment” which is a mixed concept of “information” and
“entertainment”.
The Longman dictionary defines it as: “television programs that deal
with important subjects in a way that people can enjoy” (Longman,
2008: 834)
The boundaries
─Artistic writing (creative) takes its source from
imagination and leaves its effects on its audience’s
sentiments and emotions. But the scientific writing
(informative) roots from logical thought and aims
to effect thoughts and understandings.
─“Artistic writing refers us back to human and
depicts the objective reality of humanity, but the
scientific writing distances itself from the human
position because science is not “anthropological”
as Hegel puts it.” (Ahmadi, 2005)
─Artistic writing is concerned with details and in
some of its forms it is based on depicting the
moment, creating an atmosphere, developing
characters, while the scientific writing is more
concerned with the bigger image, the whole, and
uses logic and exemplification and evidence as its
instruments.
─Creative writing aims to recreate the reality and
give us a revelatory image, but the scientific
writing is mostly looking for recording and
proving the reality and seeks the cause or causes,
or at least it claims such position.
─Artistic prose as a form can not be affirmed or
disaffirmed. As the Persian poet Suhrab Sepehri
writes:
It is not for us perhaps
To unveil the mystery of the rose
Perhaps all we are to do
Is to keep afloat
Her enchanting mystery
And further down, he writes:
Let us lift the burden of knowledge
From the shoulders of the swallow
(Sepehri, 1990:289)
Here the swallow could be interpreted as a symbol of art that is
not capable of transferring knowledge as a whole but at the same
time the limited wisdom and knowledge that it carries is much
more enjoyable and understandable.
─Artistic writing is not a process that follows a
specific formulation. It independently takes a
significant role in delivering the sense and thought
implied in the work of art. But the scientific
writing has a classical formulated nature and is
only used as a means to deliver and explicitly
express the intentions of the writer. Although
literature is similar to language and they are both
means for communication, and although the
literature gets its raw material from language and
formally appears within the realm of language, but
in essence it is a different compound of the
language and as it is usually said, it’s a
systematical deviation from the standard form of
the language. “language is the building blocks for
literature as stone or bronze are building material
for a sculpture, paint for a painting masterpiece
and notes for a piece of music. But we have to
consider the fact that unlike stone, language is not
a natural and neutral, it is created by man and
therefore it is filled with cultural loads from the
people that speak it.” (René Wellek and Austin Warren,
1994 :12) Art contains an individual and personal
intuition but science relies on the human thought
and the common sense.
─Artistic prose has ambiguity and leaves the scene
open to different interpretations of a diverse
audience. But the scientific prose is direct and
precise (or at least it tries to be so) and the main
aim in it is to get the readers to the point meant by
the writer as directly and quickly as possible. In
art there is a considerable gap between the
tangible and the meaning but in language and
science the attempt is to fill these gaps as much as
possible. Therefore in art we are facing the
abstract and secondary meanings while in
scientific or non artistic forms we are facing
agreed-upon formal meanings.
─Artistic writing is more depending on triggering
the subconscious while scientific writing depends
on intentional and attentive attempts. The element
of inspiration that exists in the realm of art is not
so significant in the scientific field and where it
does play a role it only means the instances where
the data is put together and the scientist with the
help of experience and logic and deduction draws
a conclusion inspired by the connections, it does
not mean that the scientist discovers anything out
of the blue and without any basic data. Even the
Archimedes discovery that came to be quite wellknown in history as an accidental discovery is in
fact the result of hours of thinking and analyzing
the subject and the events around him and does
not closely resemble a fiction writer’s process of
finding their subject, where the roots of that
discovery might be unknown to the writers
themselves. This does not mean that in the field of
science, creativity plays no role at all; it means
that artistic creativity is mostly a sensual and
unconscious type of creativity, while the scientific
creativity is for the most part a contemplative and
logic based type of creativity. There is an obvious
distinction between artistic creativity and
industrial creativity. In a nutshell art relies on
inspiration and intuitive revelation, but science
relies on inventions of a logical and deductive
nature.
─In artistic writing the individuality and personal
style of the artist have a more suitable platform to
be presented, while in the scientific writing the
emphasis is on common sense. In other words,
what are discovered from the work of art are the
individuality unique to the artist and the
individuality unique to the audience even when it
is not similar to that of the artist. But in scientific
writing what we seek is the outward connection
between the concepts and the formulated relation
between events. Or as Susanne Langer says: “the
symbol of art is a straightforward picture, an
image that outside the context that it was made,
might look illogical and redundant.” (ibid: 267)
─Artistic writing does not fulfill a clear-cut function
and the end result is usually not produced to gain
financial benefits. In other words the aim in
artistic creation is artistic creation. Art is in reach
of aesthetics and creating an aesthetic product and
the subject of art is not functionality but creating
an addition, while scientific works rely on
outward functionality or in a sense they aim to
lead over the outward nature and put that into use.
─Artistic writing breaks the formulas, forms, rules
and norms to reach an organic order, while the
scientific writing seeks to form formulas, rules and
norms.
Comparative Table
If we try to compare the boundaries we discussed so far, the end
result will be a table such as this:
Artistic Writing
Takes from imagination and effects
sentiments and emotions
Scientific Writing
Roots from logic and effects thoughts
and understanding
Refers us back to humanity and depicts
the objective reality of it
Is concerned with details
Distances itself from the human
position
Is more concerned with the whole
Gives an intuitive conception
Provides and recording the reality
Can not be affirmed or disaffirmed
Is verifiable, can be affirmed or denied
Induces feelings
Expresses meanings
Has ambiguity and obscurity, open to
different interpretations
Triggers the subconscious
Is direct and precise and to the point
Shows the individuality and personal
style
Depends on intentional and attentive
elements
Emphasizes on common sense and
shared elements of thought
Is aesthetical
Is Functional
Breaks the formulas, forms, rules and
Seeks to form formulas, rules and
norms to reach an organic order
norms
Table 1 – Artistic writing versus scientific writing
Conclusion
─To mix artistic prose and scientific prose in
unsuitable ways harms both concepts, either with
respect to artistic creation or the study of art.
─Therefore we find it necessary to define and
describe the characteristics of creative prose as an
end product of the creative writing process.
─Considering the difficulty in defining art, we
attempted to compare art with an opposite
concept, science, instead of providing an exact
definition. In order to do that we tried to organize
the boundaries that separate artistic writing from
scientific writings in a table.
─Perhaps the final organization of those boundaries
in a table might help us reach a closer description
(not an exact definition) of the two.
─Despite the distinctive boundaries between artistic
writing and scientific writing, the two could be
intermingled to form an end product that is both
aesthetic and pedagogic.
Bibliography
A)Persian
Babak Ahmadi, Haghighat va Zibaii (Reality and Aesthetics – Courses on
Philosophy of Art), (Tehran: Markaz Publication, 2005)
Mahdi Hejvani, Zibaii Shenasi e Adabiyate Koodak (Aesthetics in Children’s
Literature), (Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2010)
Suhrab Sepehri, Hasht Ketab (The Eight Books). (Tehran: Tahuri Publication,
1990)
René Wellek and Austin Warren, Theory of Literature, trans. Zia Movahed and
Parviz Mohajer (Tehran: Elmi Farhangi Publication, 1994)
B) Non-Persian
(MohammadReza Al-Muzaffar, Almantiq (The Logic), (Beyrut: Daraltaarf, 1980
Maria Nikolajeva, Aproaches to Children's Literature: An Introduction (USA:
Scarecrow Press, INC. 2005)
Jacqueline Rose, The Case of Peter Pan or, The Impossibility of Children's Fiction
(London: Macmillan, 1984)
Della Summers, Longman dictionary of contemporary English (England: Pearson
Education Limited, Twelfth impression, 2008)
C) Website
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/multimedia.html