Abstract
Creativity is an inevitable phenomenon resulting in people’s need to solve their problems. This phenomenon is captured differently by each culture’s values and beliefs. Though Western conceptions of creativity dominate literature with an impressive contribution from Eastern cultural conceptions, African conceptions of creativity seem to be obscure. This article uses the three dominant Nigerian cultures namely Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba to underscore the relationship between culture and creativity. It contends that any concept of creativity is reflective of a people’s cultural viewpoint. While communal and religious interpretations of the association are traditionally Nigerian, there is, however, a contemporary dimension to the Nigerian concept of creativity which is also Western in outlook. The result is an amalgam of the traditional Nigerian and Western conceptions of creativity in one socio-cultural setting called Nigeria. However, the fusion of these two cultural concepts does not rob the traditional Nigerian notions of creativity the enduring traits of what other cultures understand to be creative. Consequently, if the various cultural understandings of creativity have all led to growth and development in their different cultural settings, it behooves multiple stakeholders of the Nigerian society the duty and responsibility of promoting the prevailing conceptions of creativity from their cultural backdrop for the growth and development of the Nigerian experience.
Highlights
Creativity and culture are essential twins in the understanding of change and development
The question arises: Why do some cultures inspire change and creative skills which take care of the change, while others seem to be intolerant of creativity? what type of creativity is accepted? If different cultures react differently to creativity, it suggests that cultures would influence creative expressions differently
We look for some understanding between the old and the new notions of creativity in the Nigerian cultural setting
Summary
Creativity and culture are essential twins in the understanding of change and development. The work of Peng and Plucker (2012) revealed the cultural influence in the recent transformation of China’s promotion of creativity and innovation with the top-bottom approach compared to the bottom-top approach prevalent in the American culture In the former, the government is the catalyst of the culture of creativity and innovation, while the latter culture encourages individuals to initiate creative and innovative developments. The case is made, for increased cross-cultural studies of the association between creativity and culture This position is consequent on the various types of crises that contemporary society is facing some of which are rooted in cultural biases that are, taking humanity back to the dark ages and as such stifling creative expressions
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