Towards a theory without credentials

This paper reassesses the significance of theory for Creative Writing research. In this vein, it aims to redress the misperception of theory installed by Creative Writing practitioners, and by the same token to redress theory's marginalisation within Creative Writing circles. It positions itself within the debate about the alleged antagonism, continuity; or complementarity, between these two fields and attempts to reorient the critical conversation and provoke writers to rethink their understanding of theory's usefulness to their practice. It argues against favouritism towards anyone theory, for there are special affinities between Creative Writing and certain theories, particularly those grounded in poststructnralist theories of language. This may be due to the fact that creative writers read and research differently from theorists and critics. One key difference between them is the status of affect and the body, and therefore of the nnconscious, inrelation to thought. By focusing ·on psychoanalysis, I argue here for a privileging of a 'theory without credentials', one that would disrupt our certainties and thus open up creative possibilities that can in turn be theorised. A psychoanalytic understanding of subjectivity sheds light on the creative process and on the very concept of knowledge production in ways that are not envisaged by other models of subjectivity. Conversely, an examination of writing and research processes can help. illuminate and expand on psychoanalytic understandings of subjectivity.Psychoanalysis is useful in that it suggests that both writing and the subject are constructions in the making. This has direct pedagogical implications: by grappling with the theory itself, new teaching methods and methodologies arise.