A Critical Theory of Creativity Utopia, Aesthetics, Atheism and Design [Hardcover]

A Critical Theory of Creativity argues that a Utopian drive is aesthetically encoded within the language of form. But coupled with this opportunity comes a very human obligation which cannot be delegated to God, to nature or to market forces. As Ernst Bloch declared: 'Life has been put into our hands.'Introduction 1. Visions -and Derisions- of Utopia 2. Ernst Bloch and Utopian Critical Theory 3. Homo Aestheticus 4. Case Study: Navajo Design, Culture and Theology 5. Archetypes, the Unconscious and Psychoanalysis 6. Roger Fry and the Language of Form 7. From Genesis to Job 8. Homo Absconditus 9. Conclusion: The Republic of HeavenThe great strength of Howellss book is that it is, in the very best sense of the word, interdisciplinary. & his A Critical Theory of Creativity is a celebration of the human spirit and the Christ-impulse that compels us all to hope even in the face of the inhuman. It is absolutely indispensable reading especially for scholars of Bloch who want to better understand how his ideas relate to the creative and the visual. (Duncan Reyburn, English Academy Review, Vol. 33 (1), April, 2016)

Richard Howells is Professor of Cultural Sociology at King's College London, UK, where he specialises in visual and popular culture, together with cultural and critical theory. He studied at Harvard and Cambridge universities and lives in London and West Sussex with his wife, the designer Sarah Howson.
A brilliant and magisterial overview of Blochs continued importance for todays dystopian world. Howells combines breadth and depth in his analysis to show that whilst two or three are gathered in the name of critical thought, there is indeed hope for the future of us all ... (Slavoj }i~ek, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University, and International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities)&l#