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Abstract

This review essay considers recent contributions to the Jung literature by Pietikäinen, Stevens and Yates. All three books comment on the interplay between Jung's life and psychology, but interpret his writings very differently from each other. Stevens looks to biology for corroboration of archetype theory, whereas Pietikäainen extrapolates from Cassirer' s philosophy a conceptual framework for redefining archetypes as cultural products. The anthology edited by Yates is quintessentially about symbolic manifestations of universal existential concerns with death and survival of the soul, though she opts for a more literal interpretation of Jung's concerns. Comparison of the books reveals the status quo of Jung scholarship, but hints on directions in which a study of Jung's polyphonic works could contribute to current debates and inquiries in academic psychology.

Keywords

archetypes history of psychology Jung life narrative

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References

Jones, R.A. (2001). Psychological value and symbol formation. Theory & Psychology, 11(2), 233-254.

Jung, C.G. (1956). Symbols of transformation: The collected works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 5. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1952.)

Jung, C.G. (1992). Psychology of the unconscious. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1912.)

Noll, R. (1994). The Jung cult. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Shamdasani, S. (1998). Cult fictions: C.G. Jung and the founding of analytical psychology. London: Routledge.

The Relevance of C.G. Jung

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