This book explores the deep, imaginative, and creative power of poetry as part of the human experience.  How poetry provides insight into human psychology is a question at the beginning of its theoretical development, and is a constant challenge for cultural psychologists and the humanities alike. Poetry functions, in all ages and cultures, as a rite that merges the beauty, truth and the unbearable conditions of existence.  Both the general and the particular can be found in its expression.  Collectively the authors aim to evoke a holistic understanding of what poetry conveys about decision making and the human search for meaning. This ground-breaking collection will be indispensable to scholars of clinical and theoretical psychology, philosophy, anthropology, literature, aesthetics and sociology.

Brings together international scholars from the fields of psychology, creativity and literature Looks into the challenging question of how the arts and poetry in particular is used in human decision making and our search for meaning
Focuses on contemporary challenges in these areas

Section I. Poetic Resources as Tools to Make MeaningChapter 1. A liaison of poetry and tattoos: The multivoicedness in Edgar Allan Poe's poem ¿The Raven¿Chapter 2. Beauty of the BackChapter 3. Poetry In and For Society: Poetic Messages, Creativity, and Social ChangeChapter 4. The Poetics Within Performance Art: The Developmental Nature Of Artistic Creative ProcessesChapter 5. Commentary: Poesis and Imagination.- Section II. The Poetic Roots of Creativity and ImaginationChapter 6. Living Against and Persistence of Being: Poetic Sharing of Being Sensitive Within Antagonistic WorldsChapter 7. Rimbauding Worlds: Creation of Deranging SensesChapter 8. Living in Verse: Sites of the Poetic ImaginationChapter 9. Apprehending beauty: Ordinary people¿s experiences of the `poetic instant¿ in IndiaChapter 10. ¿The Tune Without The Words¿: Dickinson`s Verses In a Jazz Ensemble: A Case Study on The Poetics of Music and The Musicality of PoetryChapter 11. Commentary: On poetics, art and lifeSection III. The poetics of daily lifeChapter 12. Imagined SeaChapter 13. Living with "Encantados": Dances of poet and scientist within the selfChapter 14. Poetic gestures of lifeChapter 15. Dialogue as poetic imagination in the Way of TeaChapter 16. Commentary: The Poetics of Daily Life: The Invisible Becomes VisibleChapter 17. Conclusive Remarks: Writing Toward the Core¿Poetically Framing a Science of Cultural Psychology