Jung's cultural writing and Modern man in search of a soul (1933): Spiral essays and performing symbols

Rowland, Susan (2010) Jung's cultural writing and Modern man in search of a soul (1933): Spiral essays and performing symbols. International Journal of Jungian Studies, 2 (1). pp. 21-31. ISSN 1940-9052 (Print), 1940-9060 (Online)

Abstract

C. G. Jung published in English, in 1933, Modern man in search of a soul. This book, I argue, is a response to related problems of psychologists writing cultural analysis, and to the difficulty of writing down the psyche itself. Given that Jung’s most foundational belief is of the importance of the unconscious as source of creativity and of mystery, writing itself has to make room for ‘other’ voices and ‘other’ ways of arguing, in addition to rational abstract concepts, in order to fulfil Jung’s vision. Symbol, myth, narrative and, crucially, spiral form embody and enact the psyche in culture.

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