Towards a corpus-attested definition of creativity as accessed through a subtextual analysis of student writing

Abstract

This chapter offers a corpus-attested view on linguistic creativity, which is here tested in an L2 context. The theory employed is Contextual Prosodic Theory (CPT), developed by Bill Louw, with particular emphasis on the subtext of grammar strings. The major premise explored in the article is that grammar strings in the language, which is represented by a reference corpus, collocate with certain lexical items more frequently than with others. A non-native user, however, may offer a lexico-grammatical combination that does not exist in the language at all. Native creativity, then, is viewed as a deviation from the language norm that is still endorsed by reference corpus findings. In an L2 context, this principle helps to distinguish native-like creativity from non-native deviation from the norm. After a brief theoretical discussion, a case study follows. Its findings lead to working definitions of native vs. non-native deviation from the norm from the point of view of subtext, and single out prospection (Toolan, Narrative progression in the short story: a corpus stylistic approach. Benjamins, Amsterdam, 2009) as the ability of subtext to point to later developments in texts.