The Creativity Paradox: An Introductory Essay

Abstract

In this introductory article to the special issue, I explore the trope of paradox to think through the ideaof creativity. Traditionally, metaphor has been the favored trope to conceptualize creativity: the combinationof two existing elements into something different, something new. In this special issue, we focus on thetrope of paradox as a trope defined by juxtaposition and an apparently irresolvable conflict to delineate cre-ativity. Glossing the usefulness of paradox for artistic as well as scientific creativity, I show how the idea ofJanusian thinking or being in two minds holds great potential to bridge creativity research in the humanitiesand social sciences. This issue starts building that bridge with multidisciplinary perspectives on creativitythat, first, deconstruct apparent dichotomies in creativity research and, second, approach creativity as a situ-ated, distributed concept