Metaphor Foundations in Creativity Research: Boundary vs. Organism

✍ Scribed by SEANA MORAN

• Publisher: Creative Education Foundation
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 142 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-0175
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2162-6057.2009.tb01303.x

✦ Synopsis

Two metaphors explicitly or implicitly used in the conceptualization of creativity are examined and compared. The boundary metaphor describes creativity in terms of crossing or pushing out a frontier. This metaphor underlies studies that emphasize creativity as a moment — an “aha!” experience or a sharp break from tradition. The organism metaphor describes creativity in terms of a reconfiguration of a problem, domain, or situation. This metaphor underlies studies that emphasize creativity as a transformation process. Research and educational implications for a potential shift in the dominant metaphor in the creativity research field are discussed.