Jungian criticism : Jungian criticism attempts to explore the connection between literature and what Carl Jung (a student of Freud) called the “collective unconscious” of the human race: ...racial memory, through which the spirit of the whole human species manifests itself (Richter 504). Jungian criticism, closely related to Freudian theory because of its connection to psychoanalysis, assumes that all stories and symbols are based on mythic models from mankind’s past.Based on these commonalities, Jung developed archetypal myths, the Syzygy: ...a quaternion composing a whole, the unified self of which people are in search (Richter 505). These archetypes are the Shadow, the Anima, the Animus, and the Spirit: ...beneath...[the Shadow] is the Anima, the feminine side of the male Self, and the Animus, the corresponding masculine side of the female Self (Richter 505). In literary analysis, a Jungian critic would look for archetypes (also see the discussion of Northrop Frye in the Structuralism section) in creative works: Jungian criticism is generally involved with a search for the embodiment of these symbols within particular works of art. (Richter 505). When dealing with this sort of criticism, it is often useful to keep a handbook of mythology and a dictionary of symbols on hand.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 10:07:05 +0000
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