The Creative Process in 18th Century Poetics: A Prologue to Psychological Conceptualisations of the 20th Century

Since Rhodes’ 4P model, the creative process has been of great interest to the psychology of creativity. Although most psychologists were not aware of it, their conceptions of the creative process on a structural level reiterated those of 18th century poetics. To demonstrate this, the paper methodologically draws on the analytical tools of historical semantics. It proposes to broaden our approach to the creative process by studying poetic views of the past and encourages practitioners to consult these aesthetic texts as inspiration for the development of creativity techniques. Above all, the paper sees itself as a contribution to understanding the history of a concept that is inscribed in our contemporary culture.