ABSTRACT

This paper connects the critical discourse on the ‘creative class’ with a longstanding lineage of thought on creativity in psychoanalysis, demonstrating their combined value in understanding worker subjectivity and exposing the perils of contemporary creative work. Drawing upon object relations theorizing in particular, the argument is made that the ‘objects’ of contemporary creative work coupled with its surrounding ‘potential space’ prove severely impoverished, giving rise to a newfound experience of alienation. Accounts of creative workers are presented to further elucidate alienation’s unconscious correlates, as well as to suggest ways of mitigating creativity’s compromised expression through the process of ‘sublimation’ – a concept central to the psychoanalytic theorizing on creativity, yet wholly absent from the contemporary discourse. Implications for the critical study of the ‘creative class’ are discussed.

摘要

本文将关于“创意阶层”的批判性话语与精神分析中关于创造力的长期思想联系在一起，展示了它们在理解工人主体性方面的综合价值，并揭示了当代创意工作的危险。特别是根据客体关系理论，有人提出当代创意作品的“客体”及其周围的“潜在空间”被证明是严重贫困的，从而产生了新发现的异化体验。介绍创意工作者的话是为了进一步阐明疏远的无意识相关性，并提出通过“升华”过程缓解创造力受损表达的方法-“升华”是对创造力进行心理分析理论的核心概念，但在当代话语中却完全没有。