Creativity in crisis: Theorising the writer's block subgenre through Coleridge, Douglas and Hughes.

In this article, I propose a theorisation of what I term 'the writer's block subgenre', a literary category comprising creative works shaped by and engaging with the condition of writer's block. Drawing primarily on the theoretical framework of Edmund Bergler, credited with first coining the term 'w...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Critical Survey Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 1 - 18
Autor principal: Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Berghahn Books Summer2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=187952173&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 187952173
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00111570
        4SI
      jtl: Critical Survey
      issn: 00111570
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Summer2025
      vid: 37
      iid: 2
      pid: 1130
      pub: Berghahn Books
    artinfo:
      ui:
        187952173
        10.3167/cs.2025.370201
      ppf: 1
      ppct: 17
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              size: 143KB
      tig:
        atl: Creativity in crisis: Theorising the writer's block subgenre through Coleridge, Douglas and Hughes.
      aug:
        au: Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine
        affil: English Literature, University of Jordan, Jordan
      su:
        Writer's block
        Bergler, Edmund
        Douglas, Keith Castellain, 1920-1944
        Hughes, Ted, 1930-1998
        Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834
      sug:
        subj:
          Writer's block
          Bergler, Edmund
          Douglas, Keith Castellain, 1920-1944
          Hughes, Ted, 1930-1998
          Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834
      keyword:
        inspiration
        Keith Douglas
        late style
        Samuel Coleridge
        Ted Hughes
        the writer's block subgenre
        writer's block
      ab: In this article, I propose a theorisation of what I term 'the writer's block subgenre', a literary category comprising creative works shaped by and engaging with the condition of writer's block. Drawing primarily on the theoretical framework of Edmund Bergler, credited with first coining the term 'writer's block', I argue that in certain cases, this condition proves so enduring and traumatic for the artist that it can become, paradoxically, the idea or plot they previously struggled to find. Through close readings of Samuel Coleridge's 'Kubla Khan', Keith Douglas's 'The "bête noire" fragments' and Ted Hughes's 'The thought fox', I examine how these poems engage with creative inhibition and why they qualify as quintessential examples of the writer's block subgenre.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Copyright of Critical Survey is the property of Berghahn Books and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
      item: Critical Survey
      holder: Berghahn Books
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2025
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N