It's worth asking: what is creative non-fiction? A huge proponent of making journalism more "literary" was Tom Wolfe. (Read his interview with The Paris Review here.) I'm not a huge fan of his work, but he had an undeniable influence on the genre.
Here's an example of his intrepidness:
INTERVIEWER For research and background, did you go to the holding pens in the Bronx? WOLFE I did. I managed to get entrée to the pens, just to see what’s going on. I found that, though there were a great many colorful things happening before my eyes, I had no way of getting inside the mind of someone who was in that predicament. Even if you masquerade as a prisoner, you know you’re going to be let out. Then I realized that I had to interview people who had been through it.Gotta admire the chutzpah. One of the most interesting authors in the genre is Erik Larson, of The Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts fame. He writes novels, but everything in them is backed up by history. Interesting hybrid. History qua novel? Or novel qua history? It goes back to some 18th-century conventions about how a manuscript was "found" and merely presented to the reader. What do you think of adding this extra level between author, reader, and text? Is it helpful in any way?
Chutzpah. Word of the day. Not at all the kind of response you're looking for, but it's mine, nonetheless. Your writing is scholarly, and in response to your question: I'd have to be better-versed in the language of literary analysis to even begin to answer it. I guess I'll just keep thinking.
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