Imaging-Poetic Imagination Continuum.

 

My research in the concepts, theories and ideas of imagination in poetry and literature discovered the account of the existence of other modes of imagination apart from poetic imagination in contemporary poetry and literature. These modes of creative imagination as discussed in the previous section include: Prosaic imagination, Pictorial imagination, Fancy imagination, Fancy-realistic imagination, and Poetic imagination.As such a significant contribution of the research is that it determines a structured continuum termed here as Imaginium for contemporary notions of poetic imagination. The term Imaginium is configured using the combination of two semantic concepts :imagination and continuum. Imaginium epitomizes the continuum-nature and structure of the conceptualizations for the study of imagination. This research indicates that imagination in poetry and literature can be organized as a continuum with imaging on one end, and poetic imagination on the other. Other modes of imagination are found to reside in a structured manner between these two ends in accordance with their level of creativity, poeticality and imaginativeness.

‘Imaging’ is indicative of the act of making images and pictures in the mind. It is a mode of mental activity like seeing, remembering and thinking. Imaging bears a basic sense of creativity and poeticality, and it is considered the binary opposite of poetic imagination in which creativity and poeticality is at its highest. Imaging refers to the mode of creative imagination that shows little or no affinity to poetic manifestations of image and imagery. It merely draws out pictures. Imaging together with other modes of imagination is used in Imaginium to show the spectrum and the continuum nature of imagination in contemporary poetry and literature. This continuum frames a structure by which the level of imaginativeness, creativity and poeticality of a poem/text can be explained. The imaging-poetic imagination continuum points to the the amount of creativity invested in the mode of imagination in a poem/text. It also enables to explore and discuss the various manifestations of literary/creative imagination in a poem/text. It is not possible to say at what point along the continuum contemporary poetry’s imaginative status might anchor. However, it is probable to find to which end the imagining process in the poem is lurking. By offering this continuum I mean typically the ways of explaining what seems happening to poetic imagination in its contemporary sense in poetry and literature. There is no implication that poetic imagination is not occurring; poetry/literature is being written with different sense of imagining. My research identifies that imagination in contemporary moves more towards imaging rather than poetic imagination. In other words, imagination shows greater affinity to the imaging end of Imaginium in contemporary poetry and literature.