Abstract: Starting with two different creative writing theories, Hua Li’s pursuit of expressing the self and Jewell Parker Rhodes’s ideal of transcending the self, this paper stresses that writing in a second language can make both possible. The particular movement of “doubling the self” resulting from writing in a second language, the complex interaction between the self and the self as the other, revises the traditional Iowa model Mark McGurl identifies on the basis of monolingual writing, redefining creativity as well as authenticity. An examination of some writers who have written in their second language reveals that such experiences did lead to a changed self and different voices. Various viewpoints brought by writing in a second language urge the writers to cross the boundaries linguistically and culturally, which becomes a source of creativity. In the meantime, as between two cultural systems authenticity has no definite borderline, John W. Berry’s model of acculturation helps explain that only the integration mode embraces multiple viewpoints, encourages the writer to select creatively, and facilitates a deeper understanding of authenticity.

Key Words: Writing in a Second Language; Self; Creativity; Authenticity.

Writing 6 (Dec. 2020): 116-125.