Passage Nineteen (Creative Process of Works)

The great question that this paper will, but feebly, attempt to answer is , what is the creative process?

Though much theory has accumulated, little is really known about the power that lies at the bottom of poetic¹ creation. It is true that great poets and artists produce beauty by employing all the powers of personality and by fusing emotions, reason, and intuitions. But what is the magical synthesis that joins and arranges these complex parts into poetic unity²?

John L.Lowes, in his justly famous “The Road to Xanadu,” developed one of the earliest and still generally acceptable answers to this tantalizing³ question. Imaginative creation, he concludes, is a complex process in which the conscious and unconscious minds jointly⁴ operate. “There is…the deep well with its chaos⁵ of fortuitously blending images; but there is likewise the Vision which sees shining in and through the chaos of the potential lines of Form, and with the Vision, the controlling Will. Which gives to that potential beauty actuality.”

The Deep Well is the unconscious mind that is peopled with the facts, ideas, feelings of the conscious activity. The imaginative vision, an unconscious activity, shines through the land of chaos, of lights and shadows, silently seeking pattern and form. Finally, the conscious mind again, through Will, captures and embodies⁶ the idea in the final work of art. In this way is unity born out of chaos.

Though there can be no absolute certainty, there is general agreement that the periods in the development of a creative work parallel, to some extent, Lowes’ theory of Well, Vision, Form, and Will. There are at least three stages in the creative process: preparation, inspiration, work.

In a sense, the period of preparation is all of the writer’s life. It is the Deep Well. It is the Deep Well. It is especially a period of concentration which gives the unconscious mind an opportunity to communicate with the conscious mind. When remembrance of things past reach the conscious level of the writer’s mind, he is ready to go on with the process. Part of this preparation involves learning a medium—learning a language, learning how to write, learning literary forms. It is important to mot here that form cannot be imposed upon the idea. Evidence, though sparse⁷, shows that the idea gives birth to the form that can best convey it. It is the Vision, according to Lowes, ” which sees shining in and through the chaws of the potential lines of from … ”

 

1.       When remembrance of things past reach the conscious level, the post has reached the stage called

[A]. Well.      [B]. Vision.       [C]. Form.        [D]. Will.

2.       Which of the following statements is TRUE?

[A]. The form determines the subject matter.

[B]. The idea determines the form.

[C]. Vision makes beauty an actuality.

[D]. A writer is unconscious when he prepares his work.

3.       The word “fortuitously” in the third paragraph means

[A]. accidentally.        [B]. luckily.         [C]. thoroughly⁸.         [D]. potentially.

4.       The remembrance of things past is carried on in the

[A]. Deep Well.                     [B]. Vision.

[C]. Chaotic⁹ lights and shadows.        [D]. Conscious mind.

Vocabulary

1.   fuse                      融化，结合

2.   intuition                   直觉

3.   Xanadu                  是一个非常美的，田园诗般的地方。美国诗人Sanul T Coleridge还根据这地方写了一首诗，“Kubla Khan” 忽必烈汗（即元世祖）

4.   John  L. Lowes            1876——1945年美国学者，批评家及教师

5.   tantalizing                 引起好奇心的，可望不可及的，逗人得

6.   fortuitous                  偶然的，幸运的

7.   parallel                   相应于

8.   sparse                    稀少，稀疏

9.   synthesis                  综合，综合法

 

难句译注

1.        …by employing all the powers of personality and by fusing emotions, reason, and intuitions.

[参考译文] 运用个人（品格）的全部力量，把情感，理智和直觉融会贯通结合在一起。

2.        …still generally acceptable answers to this tantalizing question.

[参考译文] 现在仍然是众所接受对这些可望不可及问题的答案。

3.        There is…the deep well with its chaos of fortuitously blending images; but there is likewise the Vision which sees shining in and through the chaos of the potential lines of Form, and with the Vision, the controlling Will. Which gives to that potential beauty actuality.

[结构简析] 注意介词短语和定从。With its chaos…, 是修饰deep well. Which sees shinning 定语从句修饰Vision.  And 后的with the vision, 却是状语。Which gives 又是定从，修饰Will.

[参考译文] 有……那充满了混乱的偶然交织在一起的形象的深静；但同样也有那洞察力，看到在混乱中熠熠生辉的潜在的形式线索，由于有这样的洞察力便有那控制一切的意志把潜在的美变成真实的（诗歌）篇章。

4.        lights and shadows       艺术上有 light and shade  明和暗。这里也是指明和暗。

 

写作方法与文章大意

   文章论述“创作过程”。开门见山就提出“什么是创作”。主要是引用了罗斯的Road to Xanadu 一书来说明创作过程。首先是创作的源泉，洞察分辨，最后意志赋予写作。

 

答案祥解

1.        D. 意志。第三段倒数第二句“最终又是意识的思维，通过意志，在其最终的艺术作品中捕捉和体现了这种思想观念”。第五段第三句：“当作者回溯以往事情达到了有意识的水平时，他就具备（准备）了继续创作进程的条件。这种准备工作中有一部分涉及学习媒介——学习一种语言，学习如何写，学习文学形式。”第二段都体现了意志是有意识思维的集中表现。

A. 源泉，来源，顾名思义，也是最初的东西。     B. 洞察力，视觉。     C.形式。这三项选择在第二，三段集中说明，见难句译注3及第四题答案。

2.        B. 思想观念决定形式。这在最后一段倒数第四句：部分准备工作涉及学习媒介——学习语言，学习如何写，学习文学形式之后“这里要注意文学形式不能强加于思想观念。有证据，虽然很少，表明思想观念产生适合传递它的文学形式。

A. 形式决定主题。      C. 形象使美变得真实。      D. 作者在准备写作时处于无意识状态。难句译注3和第四题答案都说明了这三项选择是不对的。

3.        A.  偶然的。

B. 幸运的，fortuitously一词确实有幸运的之义。但这里上下文含义是A，见难句译注3。

C. 彻底的，透彻的。         D. 潜在的，可能的。

4.        A. 深井（深层的源泉）。见难句译注3和第三句“深层的源泉是无意识思维，内中塞满了各种事实，观点，意识活动的情感。富有想象力的洞察力是一种无意识的活动，在杂乱的土壤中闪烁光辉，忽明忽暗，默默的探索模式和形式。最后，又是有意识的思维，通过意志……。”这里说明回溯过去是在深井阶段进行。

B. 视觉，是在探索表现形式。 C. 杂乱的光亮和阴影，明面和暗面。 D. 有意识思维

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