The Creators
Encyclopedia
The Creators is a non-fiction work of cultural history by Daniel Boorstin published in 1992 and is the second volume in what has become known as the Knowledge Trilogy. It was preceded by The Discoverers
and succeeded by The Seekers
.
which chronicled the history of invention, exploration and technology. The Creators traces the creative process from pre-history Egypt to modern times and like The Discoverers, follows both a topical and chronological structure. Boorstin writes in "A Personal Note to the Reader", "After The Discoverers... "I was more than ever convinced that the pursuit of knowledge is only one path to human fulfillment. This companion book, also a view from the literate West, is a saga of Heroes of the Imagination. While The Discoverers told of the conquest of illusions - the illusion of knowledge - this will be a story of vision (and illusions) newly created..." If The Discoverers is the story of the inventive human mind then The Creators is the story of the searching soul. The work is in twelve major parts that have been grouped into four books.
Part II. "A Creator God"
Part IV. "The Magic of Images"
Part V. "The Immortal Word"
Part VII. "The Human Comedy: A Composite Work"
Part VIII. "From Craftsman to Artist"
Part IX. "Composing for the Community"
Part X. "Conjuring with Time and Space"
Part XII. "The Wilderness Within"
to the exclusion of other cultures, a tendency to overlook the negative and lack of attribution. Kenneth S. Lynn, a Harvard professor of history, accused Boorstin of philosophical bias and blatant myth-making. He has been called superficial because his works are popular with the general public.
to Pope Gregory
to Bach
to Mozart to Dostoyevsky - a panorama of creators. Boorstin also adheres to an incremental approach to history. Although genius is unpredictable, it still builds upon the accomplishments of those who came before. Repeatedly Boorstin links changes in the way we view ourselves to artistic and creative changes.
Why were European painting styles and techniques in constant flux while China's remained relatively unchanged? Why did music acquire polyphony and instrumentation and evolve into a myriad of related "styles" while Indian music saw little evolution? Why did architecture undergo such radical transformation in the West? Why did Europe become the land of literacy and books? These question led Boorstin to certain proposals.
He suggests that "people of the Book" (Jews and Christians) came to view themselves in a different light than other cultures. Their belief in a Creator God led them to view human creation as participating in God's creation. As their God created, so did they also. They became a creative people, scrutinizing, questioning and imagining. Other cultures had moments of creative impulses but the idea of creativity for its own sake was not sustained. Other cultures, for other reasons, declined the creative road. Hinduism
viewed the universe and our lives as cyclic, having no beginning, ending only when we merged with the Oneness and escaped this world. Buddhism
did not ask "Why" but instead preached submissive acceptance of our lot in life. Confucianism concerned itself not with ultimate questions about God and the universe but with rules for practical, daily life. Although China
had an ancient painting tradition, the intertwining of calligraphy
with art as well the codification of the rules for painting resulted in an unchanging, static style. Islam
held that Allah
alone was Creator and claiming an act of creation was considered heretical. The Koran itself was not considered a document penned by Muhammed but a sacred text created at the beginning of time. Islam went so far as to ban the display of the human image which had dire consequences for the development of painting, sculpture, photography and much of the performing arts in the Islamic world.
With the rest of the world thus discussed, Boorstin begins his journey with the first Western state, Greece
. The Homeric poems of the Gods, recited so often, became theater when participants and spectators separated. Greece initiated the cultural patterns that persist and define the Western world - dance
, theater, poetry
, sports, sculpture
, literature
, architecture
, philosophy
and democracy
. At some point they began asking and attempting to answer fundamental questions about the world and themselves. When Europe rediscovered the writings of Greek philosophers, an artistic Renaissance exploded upon the scene. Along the way, the reader is introduced to a pantheon of heroes of the imagination - Moses
, Plato
, Aristotle
, Paul of Tarsus
, Dante
, Michelangelo
, Dostoyevsky...all of whom advocated the free pursuit of learning. Boorstin considers this pursuit fundamental to Western culture.
Although the focus is on the West, references to other cultures are included. The chapter "The Road Not Taken: The Japanese Triumph of Wood", is devoted to Japanese architecture. Chinese art and the reasons for its unchanging nature over time are discussed in "The Painted Word: The Inward Path of Tao". Islam, its art and attitudes toward art, are featured in "Satan's Handiwork".
The introduction of prose also led to education and the areas of study became the foundation of a Classical education to this day - rhetoric
, logic
, grammar
, astronomy
, mathematics
and philosophy
. The latter existed because of the skeptical nature of some Greek thinkers who dared to ask why; it could only exist because of prose. Boorstin proposes that prose also encouraged the development of democracy by inviting participation from the citizenry. Other literary forms rose. The epic and its tales of gods and heroes and their great deeds continued, although somewhat abated. History as story began with Herodotus
(fifth century BC) and The Histories. But it was the novel
, what Boorstin calls "re-creating life out of life", that democratized literature. The novel inspired new ways of thinking about ourselves and our world and the forms created were revelations to the Western mind - the essay
, the biography
, stories of our own feelings and views, adventure tales and streams of consciousness in which time itself is manipulated. The author had finally discovered the self as a resource of art, the internal rather than the external universe serving as the source of inspiration.
. This institution gave rise to the Gregorian chant
and one of the most important creations in music, polyphony
, still the hallmark of Western music. Over time, the emphasis within Music turned to the instruments rather than the human voice. Again, a change in attitude allowed the new event. Up to this time Church leaders had looked askance upon "wordless" music but the Reformation induced a change of assumptions. From Bach, the acceleration of instrument creation led to yet another peculian Western invention, the orchestra. Boorstin demonstrates repeatedly how one creation led to another and another. The concerto
and symphony
were created and opera
caused a sensation. Music moved out of the palace into the concert hall for the masses.
Music continued to evolve and new forms like atonality were heard in the rush to be creative and innovative.
As an example of megalithic architecture, Boorstin selects Stonehenge
. The Pyramids of ancient Egypt ("Castles of Eternity") and the famous architecture of Greece ("Temples of Community") precede the work of the Romans. Concrete, the dome, the arch, one creation after another change the physical shells that gather and protect us. The final evolution of grand architecture, the skyscraper, gives us the architect as hero.
The Discoverers
The Discoverers is a non-fiction historical work by Daniel Boorstin published in 1983 and is the first in the Knowledge Trilogy that also includes The Creators and The Seekers....
and succeeded by The Seekers
The Seekers (book)
The Seekers is a non-fiction work of cultural history by Daniel Boorstin published in 1998 and is the third and final volume in the "knowledge" trilogy.-Contents:...
.
Contents
The Creators, subtitled A History of Heroes of the Imagination, is the story of mankind's creativity. It highlights great works of art, music and literature but it is more than a recitation or list. It is a book of ideas and the people behind those ideas. It encompasses architecture, music, literature, painting, sculputure, the performing arts, theater, religious expression and philosophy. It can be viewed as a companion to The DiscoverersThe Discoverers
The Discoverers is a non-fiction historical work by Daniel Boorstin published in 1983 and is the first in the Knowledge Trilogy that also includes The Creators and The Seekers....
which chronicled the history of invention, exploration and technology. The Creators traces the creative process from pre-history Egypt to modern times and like The Discoverers, follows both a topical and chronological structure. Boorstin writes in "A Personal Note to the Reader", "After The Discoverers... "I was more than ever convinced that the pursuit of knowledge is only one path to human fulfillment. This companion book, also a view from the literate West, is a saga of Heroes of the Imagination. While The Discoverers told of the conquest of illusions - the illusion of knowledge - this will be a story of vision (and illusions) newly created..." If The Discoverers is the story of the inventive human mind then The Creators is the story of the searching soul. The work is in twelve major parts that have been grouped into four books.
The Riddle of Creation: Prologue
Part I. "Worlds Without Beginning"Part II. "A Creator God"
Book One: Creator Man
Part III. "The Power of the Stone"Part IV. "The Magic of Images"
Part V. "The Immortal Word"
Book Two: Re-creating the World
Part VI. "Otherworldly Elements"Part VII. "The Human Comedy: A Composite Work"
Part VIII. "From Craftsman to Artist"
Part IX. "Composing for the Community"
Part X. "Conjuring with Time and Space"
Book Three: Creating the Self
Part XI: "The Vanguard Word"Part XII. "The Wilderness Within"
Praise and criticism
The Creators was widely praised by both professional and non-professional readers but had its share of critics. It has been criticized for factual mistakes, poor research, literary ignorance, incorrect conclusions, a bias toward Western cultureWestern culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
to the exclusion of other cultures, a tendency to overlook the negative and lack of attribution. Kenneth S. Lynn, a Harvard professor of history, accused Boorstin of philosophical bias and blatant myth-making. He has been called superficial because his works are popular with the general public.
Writing style and themes
Boorstin follows the pattern he established in the previous book, The Discoverers. The book is built around the lives and contributions of individuals. These vignettes are the anchor of the work and reflects the author's belief that history is molded by men and women of daring and genius rather than ideological movements or academic theories. The subtitles in all three books of the Knowledge Trilogy pay homage to this idea. The trail of personal vignettes stretches from ConfuciusConfucius
Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....
to Pope Gregory
Pope Gregory
Pope Gregory has been the name of sixteen Roman Catholic Popes and two Antipopes:#Pope Gregory I, also called Gregory the Great#Pope Gregory II#Pope Gregory III#Pope Gregory IV#Pope Gregory V#Pope Gregory VI#*Antipope Gregory VI...
to Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
to Mozart to Dostoyevsky - a panorama of creators. Boorstin also adheres to an incremental approach to history. Although genius is unpredictable, it still builds upon the accomplishments of those who came before. Repeatedly Boorstin links changes in the way we view ourselves to artistic and creative changes.
The Question of Western culture
Boorstin announces in his "Note to the Reader" (above) that he approaches the subject from a Western orientation. His concern is not strictly identifying great creators and their creations but also asking "Why?" and this question forms the basis of his Western orientation.Why were European painting styles and techniques in constant flux while China's remained relatively unchanged? Why did music acquire polyphony and instrumentation and evolve into a myriad of related "styles" while Indian music saw little evolution? Why did architecture undergo such radical transformation in the West? Why did Europe become the land of literacy and books? These question led Boorstin to certain proposals.
He suggests that "people of the Book" (Jews and Christians) came to view themselves in a different light than other cultures. Their belief in a Creator God led them to view human creation as participating in God's creation. As their God created, so did they also. They became a creative people, scrutinizing, questioning and imagining. Other cultures had moments of creative impulses but the idea of creativity for its own sake was not sustained. Other cultures, for other reasons, declined the creative road. Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
viewed the universe and our lives as cyclic, having no beginning, ending only when we merged with the Oneness and escaped this world. Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
did not ask "Why" but instead preached submissive acceptance of our lot in life. Confucianism concerned itself not with ultimate questions about God and the universe but with rules for practical, daily life. Although China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
had an ancient painting tradition, the intertwining of calligraphy
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
with art as well the codification of the rules for painting resulted in an unchanging, static style. Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
held that Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
alone was Creator and claiming an act of creation was considered heretical. The Koran itself was not considered a document penned by Muhammed but a sacred text created at the beginning of time. Islam went so far as to ban the display of the human image which had dire consequences for the development of painting, sculpture, photography and much of the performing arts in the Islamic world.
With the rest of the world thus discussed, Boorstin begins his journey with the first Western state, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. The Homeric poems of the Gods, recited so often, became theater when participants and spectators separated. Greece initiated the cultural patterns that persist and define the Western world - dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, theater, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, sports, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
. At some point they began asking and attempting to answer fundamental questions about the world and themselves. When Europe rediscovered the writings of Greek philosophers, an artistic Renaissance exploded upon the scene. Along the way, the reader is introduced to a pantheon of heroes of the imagination - Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, Paul of Tarsus
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
, Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, Dostoyevsky...all of whom advocated the free pursuit of learning. Boorstin considers this pursuit fundamental to Western culture.
Although the focus is on the West, references to other cultures are included. The chapter "The Road Not Taken: The Japanese Triumph of Wood", is devoted to Japanese architecture. Chinese art and the reasons for its unchanging nature over time are discussed in "The Painted Word: The Inward Path of Tao". Islam, its art and attitudes toward art, are featured in "Satan's Handiwork".
The impact of literature
Literature and its development comprises a major portion of the book. This reflects the high regard in which Boorstin held the written word. He has stated that the book is the greatest technological invention of all time. He suggests that literary evolution both changed and reflected new ways of thinking about the self. Indeed, literature was the driving force behind changes in personal perspectives starting (once again) with Greece. In another reference to incrementalism he traces the path from writing to religious poetry, the two being intertwined. Boorstin suggests that poetry in both form and substance was written to remember. Prose, a new form of literature, emerged and with it the theater. The play was transformed from a religious exercise to a creative one that saw the appearance of comedy, drama and tragedy. Because prose was not in a form that made for easy memorization, a greater imagination was required by the author. The theater served those purposes admirably and Greeks both loved and excelled at the performing arts. The spectators who viewed these works began asking the same questions and changing their perspective.The introduction of prose also led to education and the areas of study became the foundation of a Classical education to this day - rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. The latter existed because of the skeptical nature of some Greek thinkers who dared to ask why; it could only exist because of prose. Boorstin proposes that prose also encouraged the development of democracy by inviting participation from the citizenry. Other literary forms rose. The epic and its tales of gods and heroes and their great deeds continued, although somewhat abated. History as story began with Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
(fifth century BC) and The Histories. But it was the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, what Boorstin calls "re-creating life out of life", that democratized literature. The novel inspired new ways of thinking about ourselves and our world and the forms created were revelations to the Western mind - the essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
, the biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
, stories of our own feelings and views, adventure tales and streams of consciousness in which time itself is manipulated. The author had finally discovered the self as a resource of art, the internal rather than the external universe serving as the source of inspiration.
Other creations
Boorstin places the origins of Western music in the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The early practice of congregational singing of psalms (adopted from Judaism) ceased with the introduction of the choirChoir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
. This institution gave rise to the Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
and one of the most important creations in music, polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
, still the hallmark of Western music. Over time, the emphasis within Music turned to the instruments rather than the human voice. Again, a change in attitude allowed the new event. Up to this time Church leaders had looked askance upon "wordless" music but the Reformation induced a change of assumptions. From Bach, the acceleration of instrument creation led to yet another peculian Western invention, the orchestra. Boorstin demonstrates repeatedly how one creation led to another and another. The concerto
Concerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
and symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
were created and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
caused a sensation. Music moved out of the palace into the concert hall for the masses.
Music continued to evolve and new forms like atonality were heard in the rush to be creative and innovative.
As an example of megalithic architecture, Boorstin selects Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
. The Pyramids of ancient Egypt ("Castles of Eternity") and the famous architecture of Greece ("Temples of Community") precede the work of the Romans. Concrete, the dome, the arch, one creation after another change the physical shells that gather and protect us. The final evolution of grand architecture, the skyscraper, gives us the architect as hero.