Some theories of creative process of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centures: a context for T.E. Hulme

The purpose of this thesis is to reconstruct the theory of creative process present in the writings of T. E. Hulme, and to juxtapose it with some other theories which either influenced it or with which it has been associated. It argues that there is no inconsistency in Hulme's simultaneous advocacy of a new "classicism" and his incorporation into his aesthetic of tenets analogous to ones typical of the English Romantic and French Symbolist traditions. His rejection of "romanticism" is seen to have been a disapproval of a certain attitude which coloured the way in which art had been discussed. His selfdescribed aim is seen to have been the redescription, with the aid of the new psychology, of phenomena which in the idealist traditions had been attributed to supernatural causes. Each of the accounts of creative activity considered is divided, broadly, into what it has to say about the artist's "apprehension," "articulation" and "product." Chapter I contrasts the two French movements with which Imagism has been linked: the positivist aesthetic of Parnassianism and the idealist one of Symbolism. The theories of Walter Pater and the young W. B. Yeats are considered in Chapter II, and claims about their status as English Symbolists are assessed in the light of the previous discussion. Chapters III and IV describe the scientific reinterpretations of Symbolist principles found in the work of Theodule Ribot, Remy de Gourmont and Henri Bergson. The appeal for Hulme of the demystification achieved by these writers is illustrated in Chapter V, where the detailed reconstruction of his theory reveals much evidence of their influence. Chapter VI considers the changes in Hulme's view of art corresponding to his shift of interest to the visual arts. Chapter VII compares Hulme's account of poetic activity and the theory developed by Ezra Pound on behalf of Vorticism.