Jung was a psychiatrist. He was a contemporary of Freud. However while he built on the theories of Freud a lot of his conclusions were a very different. One concept he was particularly interested in was what is known as the collective unconscious and what we now know as Jungian or Jung symbols.
The idea of the collective conscious is that there are certain concepts that appear to be universal and transcend boundaries and cultures. For example pretty much all cultures around the world have some form of story about the origin of the world as well as prophecies about how the world will end. In a lot of these stories there tend to be familiar images such as floods.
What Jung noticed is that a lot of people seemed to see the same kind of images recur over and over. For example in most cultures fear can be personified in the form of a scarecrow and a lot of cultures recognise the fox as a symbol of cunning. It is these symbols that help people make sense of the world.
A classic example is the trickster. In fairy tales, folk legends and modern movies we see numerous variations on this archetypal character. In some cases the trickster might be a good character such as Brer Rabbit. In other cases this character is evil such as the fox that corrupts Pinnochio. However such is the nature of the trickster that in the story the character may be more ambiguous such as Willy Wonka. While he may turn out to be good in the end there is a certain mischief and malevolence that he seems to revel in.
This philosophy has been especially influential when it comes to story telling. The story analyst Joseph Campbell built on the philosophy of Jung in his work The Hero of A Thousand Faces and this in turn would go on to influence storywriters in literature, stage and screen.
While Jung did acknowledge that these symbols often represented repressed desires he felt they may not necessarily be bad things. He felt that this was more to do with having a psyche balanced by both male and female aspects and that this interpretation was not necessarily purely about sex or indulgence.
In both Jungian and Freudian interpretations there is a need to acknowledge that darker instincts should not be ignored. The danger of repression is that it results in developing neuroses and could potentially damage mental health. Equally a person who continually lashes out or indulges could equally harm themselves and others.
In short the archetypes and symbols that Jung describe are an effective way to help people interpret themselves and the world around them. Our mentors help guide us, we learn to avoid tricksters and we come to accept both the light and dark in our personalities. Look online for more information of Jung and Jungian symbol interpretation.
The idea of the collective conscious is that there are certain concepts that appear to be universal and transcend boundaries and cultures. For example pretty much all cultures around the world have some form of story about the origin of the world as well as prophecies about how the world will end. In a lot of these stories there tend to be familiar images such as floods.
What Jung noticed is that a lot of people seemed to see the same kind of images recur over and over. For example in most cultures fear can be personified in the form of a scarecrow and a lot of cultures recognise the fox as a symbol of cunning. It is these symbols that help people make sense of the world.
A classic example is the trickster. In fairy tales, folk legends and modern movies we see numerous variations on this archetypal character. In some cases the trickster might be a good character such as Brer Rabbit. In other cases this character is evil such as the fox that corrupts Pinnochio. However such is the nature of the trickster that in the story the character may be more ambiguous such as Willy Wonka. While he may turn out to be good in the end there is a certain mischief and malevolence that he seems to revel in.
This philosophy has been especially influential when it comes to story telling. The story analyst Joseph Campbell built on the philosophy of Jung in his work The Hero of A Thousand Faces and this in turn would go on to influence storywriters in literature, stage and screen.
While Jung did acknowledge that these symbols often represented repressed desires he felt they may not necessarily be bad things. He felt that this was more to do with having a psyche balanced by both male and female aspects and that this interpretation was not necessarily purely about sex or indulgence.
In both Jungian and Freudian interpretations there is a need to acknowledge that darker instincts should not be ignored. The danger of repression is that it results in developing neuroses and could potentially damage mental health. Equally a person who continually lashes out or indulges could equally harm themselves and others.
In short the archetypes and symbols that Jung describe are an effective way to help people interpret themselves and the world around them. Our mentors help guide us, we learn to avoid tricksters and we come to accept both the light and dark in our personalities. Look online for more information of Jung and Jungian symbol interpretation.
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