Chapter 10: The Muse, Dialogue, and Collaboration: Agential Realism in Practice

This chapter explores the dynamics of creative inspiration through the lens of Barad’s agential realism, examining how the classical concept of the muse, dialogical interaction, and collaborative processes intertwine to form a holistic understanding of creativity. Using an arts-based research methodology, the paper presents a fictional radio interview between a host and an academic discussing the historical development of the muse concept from ancient Greece to contemporary revisioning, Bakhtin’s notion of dialogism, and collaborative creative processes across various disciplines. Barad’s agential realism challenges traditional subject/object dichotomies, suggesting that creativity emerges not from individual inspiration but through intra-active processes of becoming. This framework offers a transformative approach to creative leadership and decision-making that de-objectifies others, emphasizes process over product, and re-centers human experience within a collective creative discourse. Practical exercises are included for experiencing this intra-relational creativity, providing a pathway for readers to engage with these concepts experientially rather than abstractly.