Abstract
The gist of Edith Cobb’s insightful work, The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood, could be summarized in two points: 1) Children in their latency period become, using their vigorous imagination, what they watch, listen to and touch, which is also the creative act of “world-making”; 2) The creativity thus fostered strongly affects the creative power which is required to develop a unique personality as they grow up. Since Cobb’s explanation of how children’s imagination works is not necessarily clear, we introduce a different approach in terms of body-in-becoming in order to further explore her significant points.
First, we define the concept of imagination as follows: while in Bergson’s theory the integration of memory and body enables us to perceive and act in the world, in children’s imagination it is half-actualizedmemory and body that are to be integrated. When children become something, the imagining subject and the imagined object get permeated each other to form a specific world. In such creative processes, children could make the world they imaginatively dwell in.
Secondly, we assume that, when imagery and perception/action are unified, the rhythm of the subject and that of the object resonate each other. Resonance of two different rhythms could produce a third wavelength. That is what happens in “world-making.” When children repeat those processes, the foundation for the source of creativity is shaped in them, through which they develop a unique personality required in growing up. Therefore, if that foundation is fragile, their formation of personality must necessarily be stunted.
