Creative Grammarians: Cognition, Language and Literature – An Exploratory Response

Abstract

Abstract Any definition of creativity is a ‘machine’ which produces exactly those instances of creativity that follow the rules of the respective definition – so how does one escape the conundrum of defining individual creativity without turning it into a mere act of reproduction? One of the central tenets of the present volume is that Construction Grammar is particularly suited to bridge the gap between everyday linguistic creativity and highly professionalized and conventionalized forms of cultural reproduction, especially creative literature. While it appears to merely follow a trend in cognitive linguistics, which emerged and firmly established itself over the last three decades, and which emphasizes the creative potential of linguistic practices over and against the definition of language and speech as a rule-based system of engendering constraints, Construction Grammar insists on its ability to provide a most profitable interdisciplinary approach for the study of creativity and language – one that would also be able to embrace and empower the study of literary creativity.