Jungian literary criticism focuses on analyzing archetypes in literature and mythology to achieve individuation, the integration of the unconscious into the conscious mind. The hero’s journey guides the hero towards individuation, with the shadow and soul being two main focuses. Frodo in The Lord of the Rings is an example of individuation, with his shadow figure Gollum representing his unconscious self. Critics either dismiss or find inspiration in Jungian literary criticism.
Carl Jung, perceived the human mind as consisting of an unconscious divided into two discrete parts. The personal unconscious was those feelings that could not be accessed without therapy and dream work. The universal unconscious was a shared set of images, called archetypes, common to all people. The universal unconscious was expressed in art, literature and myth, and Jungian literary criticism focused specifically on the analysis of archetypes in written literature and mythology.
According to Jung, the goal of all human beings is to achieve individuation, a state in which the unconscious is known and integrated into the conscious mind. Literature involving any type of hero, but primarily male ones, can be analyzed through this literary critical tradition by the passages of the “hero’s journey” that guide the hero towards individuation.
Not all Jungian literary criticism examines all processes of individuation. Two main points of focus are the integration of the soul and the broader integration of the shadow. Conversely, a critique may simply evaluate the effectiveness of a particular archetype in a novel. When reading Jungian-style literature, the central character is seen as real, while most of the other characters are seen as symbolic representations of aspects of the hero’s unconscious self. A woman, for example, represents the soul, the feminine side of the hero’s personality. An antagonist represents the shadow.
Sometimes it is easier to understand Jungian literary criticism in practice. For example, in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the character of Frodo is clearly contrasted with his shadow figure, Gollum. Gollum represents all the things in Frodo’s unconscious self that Frodo has not recognized psychologically. As the novel progresses, Frodo becomes more like Gollum and eventually acts as Gollum would, claiming the ring for himself. The integration of the shadow implies a descent into hell, and such is Frodo’s journey to Mordor, a place where all things have become corrupted, representing the domain of the shadow. The shadow must be accepted or it continues to dominate the personality.
For Frodo to be considered individuated by a Jungian literary critic, he must harness the power of his shadow to achieve wholeness. This is beautifully effected by Gollum’s death, where he bites Frodo’s finger, and then through his own malicious glee teeters on the edge of the precipice into the cave of Mount Doom before falling into the molten lava below, thus completing Frodo’s quest.
The theme of kinship between Frodo and Gollum is remarkably consistent throughout the novel as Frodo first rebels and then feels sympathy for Gollum. Frodo needs him psychologically to do his job. Furthermore, Frodo represents individuation by leaving Middle-earth to dwell forever for the elves in a heavenly place. A fully individuated character no longer belongs in the real world, as individuation is a lifelong process.
This is a very succinct explanation of Jungian literary criticism at work. Some of the most prominent scholars in this field include Joseph Campbell, Emma Jung and Maria Louise von Franz, whose work on the shadow and the soul in fairy tales is particularly interesting. Furthermore, Emma Jung’s exploration of the legend of the Grail is just as fascinating.
Other literary critics dismiss Jungian literary criticism because it places an external construction on a text and basically always leads to the same conclusions. There is certainly some truth in the criticism. Virtually anything can be read this way, just as one might use Freudian literary criticism to evaluate texts as human repression of sexual desires and opposing drives toward sex and death.
What seems most useful in Jungian literary criticism is its value as an inspiration for everyday life. It reinforces Jung’s theory that we all desire perfect knowledge of those unconscious forces that guide us. It also supports the idea that texts from very different contexts can be said to repeatedly exhibit the same factors. Whether or not this truly represents a universal unconscious is debatable. Most ignore the universal unconscious and lean instead on Jungian literary criticism as a way to understand the psychological struggle of being human to overcome hidden thoughts and feelings, a struggle common to all of us.
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