Creative Collaboration

Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker" dominates our collective imagination as the purest representation of human inquiry--the lone, stoic thinker. But while the Western belief in individualism romanticizes this perception of the solitary creative process, the reality is that scientific and artistic forms emerge from the joint thinking, passionate conversations, emotional connections and shared struggles common in meaningful relationships. In Creative Collaboration, Vera John-Steiner offers rare and fascinating glimpses into the dynamic alliances from which some of our most important scholarly ideas, scientific theories and art forms are born. Within these pages we witness the creative process unfolding in the intimate relationships of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Henry Miller and Anais Nin, Marie and Pierre Curie, Martha Graham and Erick Hawkins, and Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz; the productive partnerships of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Albert Einstein and Marcel Grossmann, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, and Freeman Dyson and Richard Feynman; the familial collaborations of Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus, and Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson and Mary Catherine Bateson; and the larger ensembles of The Guarneri String Quartet, Lee Strasburg, Harold Clurman and The Group Theater, and such feminist groups as The Stone Center and the authors of Women's Ways of Knowing. Many of these collaborators complemented each other, meshing different backgrounds and forms into fresh styles, while others completely transformed their fields. Here is a unique cultural and historical perspective on the creative process. Indeed, by delving into these complex collaborations, John-Steiner illustrates that the mind--rather than thriving on solitude--is clearly dependent upon the reflection, renewal and trust inherent in sustained human relationships. Here is a unique cultural and historical perspective on the creative process, and a compelling depiction of the associations that nurtured our most talented artists and thinkers. By delving into these complex, intimate collaborations, John-Steiner illustrates that the mind--rather than thriving on solitude--is clearly dependent upon the dialogue, renewal, and trust inherent in sustained human relationships.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction 2: Joined Lives and Shared Work 3: Partnerships in Science 4: Patterns of Collaboration among Artists 5: A Chorus of Voices: Women and Collaboration 6: Felt Knowledge: Emotional Dynamics of Collaboration 7: Collaboration across Generations 8: Conclusions Appendix: Q-Sort

About the Author :
Vera John-Steiner has been a leading scholar of creativity and education for over 30 years. Her book, Notebooks of the Mind: Explorations of Thinking, won the 1990 William James Book Award from the American Psychological Association. A Professor of Linguistics and Education at the University of New Mexico, she lives in Santa Fe.

Review :
"As studies of creative collaborations go, Vera John-Steiner's is a model of scholarship and deep understanding of the human psyche.Her book is a must for creativity studies." American Scientist "Draws on a wide range of examples from the arts and sciences and includes a valuable bibliography that covers both popular and scholarly works on many aspects of partnership and common-cause endeavors."--"The Futurist "A reader cannot but fail to be impressed by the scope of John-Steiner's literary palette as she describes with alacrity famous collaborators in fields as diverse as science, music, and art....Offers vivid alternative narratives that respond to her criticism that most of the literature on collaboration focuses on cognition while overlooking the power of relational dynamics."--Education Review "John-Steiner challenges the concept of the primacy of the individual championed by developmental theorists such as Piaget, and urges readers to consider cooperative effort as a new paradigm for human creative activity....[The] writing [is] clear and delightfully plain.... [Creative Collaboration] will appeal strongly to artists, musicians and intellectual collaborators who are serious students of the creative process."--Publishers Weekly "One of the first studies available of adult collaboration and group interaction from the perspective of cognitive developmental psychology....John-Steiner [disputes] the traditional psychological view that creativity is an individual accomplishment, demonstrat[ing] the importance of shared vision to individual achievement....[She] has laid the groundwork for further exploration of creative collaboration. Essential."--Library Journal. "Vera John-Steiner contributes to this intellectual effort in Creative Collaboration . Her research attempts to deepen our understanding of creative achievement by exploring the relational contexts of individual and joint work. . . . This book lays the groundwork for the continuing exploration of the nature and nurturing of collaboration. John-Steiner has made a start describing the variety of ways that collaborators who are also experienced thinkers jointly work. She has begun to answer the question of what motivates extended collaboration and has given us some new language that captures the coupling of the affective and cognitive dimensions that are at the heart of these creative 'ensembles.'" -- Human Development "As studies of creative collaborations go, Vera John-Steiner's is a model of scholarship and deep understanding of the human psyche. Her book is a must for creativity studies." American Scientist "Draws on a wide range of examples from the arts and sciences and includes a valuable bibliography that covers both popular and scholarly works on many aspects of partnership and common-cause endeavors."--"The Futurist "A reader cannot but fail to be impressed by the scope of John-Steiner's literary palette as she describes with alacrity famous collaborators in fields as diverse as science, music, and art....Offers vivid alternative narratives that respond to her criticism that most of the literature on collaboration focuses on cognition while overlooking the power of relational dynamics."--Education Review "John-Steiner challenges the concept of the primacy of the individual championed by developmental theorists such as Piaget, and urges readers to consider cooperative effort as a new paradigm for human creative activity....[The] writing [is] clear and delightfully plain.... [Creative Collaboration] will appeal strongly to artists, musicians and intellectual collaborators who are serious students of the creative process."--Publishers Weekly "One of the first studies available of adult collaboration and group interaction from the perspective of cognitive developmental psychology....John-Steiner [disputes] the traditional psychological view that creativity is an individual accomplishment, demonstrat[ing] the importance of shared vision to individual achievement....[She] has laid the groundwork for further exploration of creative collaboration. Essential."--Library Journal. "As a member of a successful string quartet for the last thirty-seven years, I have submitted myself to a delicious paradox--obsessively developing my own skills while reaching out to understand and bond with my colleagues. Dr. John-Steiner's fascinating exploration of creative collaboration illuminates this essential quality of the human condition with great skill, understanding, and even a glimpse at how partnership may shape our future."--Arnold Steinhardt, Guarneri String Quartet "The tales of creative scientific and artistic collaboration that Vera John-Steiner tells in this book are fascinating in themselves. More important, they supply particularly dramatic illustrations of the view, shared by a growing number of psychologists, that (even among 'ordinary' people) development occurs between rather than within individuals. This is a profoundly stimulating book."--Blythe Clinchy, co-author of Women's Ways of Knowing and Knowledge, Difference, Power: Essays Inspired by Women's Ways of Knowing "In an age when the focus is almost exclusively on individual action and individual achievement, Creative Collaboration is a much needed breath of fresh air. This is an extensively documented work full of fascinating real-life stories that vividly show that mutually supportive partnerships are of enormous personal and creative benefit - as I can actually attest to from my own life experiences."--Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice & the Blade, Sacred Pleasure, Tomorrow's Children and The Partnership Way "Creative Collaboration brings together an astonishing and fascinating array of variations on the theme that human beings think, feel, develop and create within intricate webs of co-laboring. Her ability to provide an accessible and compelling theory that blends these variations using examples from the arts and sciences will make this book compelling reading for scholars and lay people alike."--Michael Cole, University Professor of Communication and Psychology at University of California, San Diego, author of Cultural Psychology: A Once and Future Discipline and co-author of Psychology of Literacy "It is becoming increasingly clear that great ideas emerge more from ideas exchanged between people than from solitary introspection. Vera John-Steiner provides a wonderful variety of examples, ranging from the Curies to O'Keeffe and Steiglitz, Sartre and de Beauvoir, Plath and Hughes, to illustrate how creative sparks fly from the meeting of creative minds." --Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow, Creativity and The Evolving Self, and Director of the Quality of Life Research Center at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University "This is a landmark book. Finally, a book deep in concept and data that establishes the significance of collaboration in all creative endeavors, including those which we falsely attribute to the individual 'great mind.' It's a treat to read and will ultimately reframe and advance our thinking about creativity."--Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California, and co-author of Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration "Vera John-Steiner contributes to this intellectual effort in Creative Collaboration . Her research attempts to deepen our understanding of creative achievement by exploring the relational contexts of individual and joint work. . . . This book lays the groundwork for the continuing exploration of the nature and nurturing of collaboration. John-Steiner has made a start describing the variety of ways that collaborators who are also experienced thinkers jointly work. She has begun to answer the question of what motivates extended collaboration and has given us some new language that captures the coupling of the affective and cognitive dimensions that are at the heart of these creative 'ensembles.'" -- Human Development