sub-creator n.
J. R. R. Tolkien's word for: a person who creates a secondary world (see sub-creation n.); (later also more generally) an author regarded as occupying the position of God in relation to his or her own fictional creation
SF Criticism
-
1947
J. R. R. Tolkien
The story-maker proves a successful โsub-creatorโ. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter.
On Fairy-Stories in Essays Presented to C. Williams 51 -
1951
J. R. R. Tolkien
It may become possessive, clinging to the things made as โits ownโ, the sub-creator wishes to be the Lord and God of his private creation.
Letter in H. Carpenter Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1995) 145 -
1951
J. R. R. Tolkien
The right to โfreedomโ of the sub-creator is no guarantee among fallen men that it will not be used as wickedly as is Free Will.
Letter in H. Carpenter Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1995) 194 -
1972
The sub-creator of secondary worlds of fantasy at the height of his inspiration.
Master of Middle-Earth (1973) vii. 201 -
1999
As divinely inspired sub-creator, the poet must follow God, the supreme creator, in dispensing morally appropriate rewards and punishments.
Literary Theory from Plato to Barthes iii. 35
Earliest cite
J.R.R. Tolkien, 'On Fairy-Stories'
Last modified 2020-12-21 22:54:32
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