49 pages • 1 hour read
The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
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Background
Literary Context: Jung’s Influence on the Arts
In 1966, Jung published The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature, in which he describes the relationship between art and artist as an inevitable internal force. He portrays the process of making art as a compulsion beyond personal autonomy. He goes on to argue that artists are not individuals; instead, they are a part of “collective man,” and their role is to help others understand their own inherent places within a larger framework of consciousness. According to Jung, the relationship between the collective unconscious and the artist is intrinsic. The artist’s role is to tap into the collective unconscious, which is a reservoir of shared human experience; the artist draws from the mythological archetypes that inhabit the collective unconscious and explores their meanings.
Archetypes, in Jungian psychology, are universal symbols or motifs that recur across cultures and time periods, shaping human narratives and artistic expression. The relationship between archetypes and art is driven by myth, which acts as a vessel for these timeless patterns. In different art forms, they manifest through distinct mediums: In music, myth is expressed through an audible image. In literature, it is explored through symbols and motifs. In art, the visual image develops the myth.
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