Archetypal Literary Theory Overview

Transcription

1 Archetypal Literary Theory Overview

2 Where Does Archetype Come From? The term for studying word origins is etymology. Archetype is a Greek word that comes from the coinmaking industry. arche means first; type means stamp The archetype of a coin is the very first version of the tender from which all other coins are minted.

3 What is Literary Theory? Definition: The understanding & analysis of stories using different philosophical and ideological perspectives. Explanation: A feminist literary theory reading of a story will focus on issues of equity; a Marxist literary theory reading of a story will focus on alienation & the worker; an archetypal literary theory reading will focus on universal symbols.

4 Why do We Study It? Archetypal Literary Theory is an approach to literary analysis through the lens of archetypes and the collective unconscious (our big pool of cultural memories that we dip into without realizing it). We will interpret literature by identifying the purpose of archetypal patterns and connections.

5 Who Came Up with It? Carl Jung and Archetypes Psychologist & Scholar in early 20 th c. Friend of Freud (Id, Ego, Superego guy) Studied dreams and storytelling as a window into our psychological states. stories, songs, art, religions have fundamental and profound similarities. He saw that cultures around the world had similar stories about creation, the apocalypse, even the great flood!

6 Genetic Bottleneck

7 The Hard Life You think you have it tough? The first human beings lived hard lives! These humans were the parents of the species, and ancestors to us all. These humans had it tough; they all fought to survive every day: to eat; not to be eaten; to procreate; for safety; for power. This was life or death stuff, instinctive stuff, so all these traumatic experiences left a sort of residue on their innermost reptilian brain, the limbic system where our instincts reside. Instincts are passed to future generations THAT S US!

8 Humanity s Heritage Instinct + Culture = Archetypes SAME NEEDS, DIFFERENT LIFESTYLES (even though our experiences are vastly different so we express those same struggles for survival in a different way.) Instead of transmitting survival knowledge only through instincts, we also use culture to protect our species. Stories, Music, Art, and Religion = SPECIES TRUTH. It s the way we communicate human Truth what is most important for our survival as a species. THAT is the origin of archetypes, in a nutshell.

9 A New Generation Joseph Campbell and Archetypes George Lucas read Campbell s book, and decided to make a movie that has all the heroic archetypes along comes Star Wars! The person who updated and popularized this idea was a man named Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell was also a scholar of literature and culture, and he wrote about archetypes in a famous book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Lots of teachers and college students read the book and realized archetypes could help us analyze literature they recognized that this sort of application helps us find deeper meanings in literature, drawing on the wisdom of the collective human experience, revealing human truth.

10 Qualities of Archetypes Primordial: have been around since the dawn of our species (like Jung theorized) Universal: concerned with the BIG questions about our existence; cultures all over the world have them Recurrent: occur repeatedly because all generations express them

11 Character Symbols These have to do with, what else How we see ourselves What we prize What we fear

12 Character Symbol Archetypes: patterns of characters in human culture that represent our hopes, questions, and fears. The hero: physical traits & ideas attached to them The monster/beast: physical traits & ideas attached to them The trickster: physical traits & ideas attached to them Here are some others The wicked stepmother The mentor/guide The fool/prophet The princess/ handsome prince The nurturing mother The strong/distant father The sidekick The savior/martyr The nemesis The hermit/outcast The temptress The double/apparition Can you think of characters in stories or movies that fit these labels? There are many more, but archetypes are a defined list.

13 Situation Symbols These have to do with Our struggles to survive Our goals Our fears of the unknown/things we cannot control

14 Patterns of events in stories Battle between good and evil The hero s journey Creation of the universe The Apocalypse Cycle of birth, death, and resurrection Rites of passage The Great Flood Fall from Grace Think about a book you just read, like Animal Farm. How many of these patterns do you see in that story?

15 Rando Object Symbols They have to do with The Cosmos Personality/ Sexuality The Natural World

16 objects in stories that stand for Mandala Axis Mundi Shadow/Persona Syzygy Ouroboros ideas. -Sacred Union (Anima/Animus) -Colors -Rivers/Water -Desert/Garden/Forest -Numbers These are the toughest archetypes to locate, because you have to first determine where the physical symbolic qualities exist. If it s a Mandala, look for a circular shape at the center of everything. If it s an Axis Mundi, look for a vertical pole that connects the sky to the underworld.

17 Mandala Physical Qualities: circular object with spokes radiating out from a center, called the omphalos. The edges of the spokes are often bordered (w/a square, for example). Examples are the sun, an eye, a hurricane/tornado, a flower, a clock face, a pendant, and egg (yin-yang) well anything spherical or circular that stands for Abstract Connection: the entire cosmos, its creation (the omphalos) and its end (the border at the edges), and all the cycles of life, death, and resurrection in between. The omphalos is the birth canal from which the cosmos springs. It s also called the primordial mound (think pregnant tummy) or the navel of the universe (a euphemism for birth canal)

18 Axis Mundi PHYSICAL QUALITIES: a pole that reaches from the bottom to the top, often in the form of a tree, mountain, ladder, pyramid, road, sun ray, stairway, river, a storm (funnel) ABSTRACT CONNECTION: all the layers of the universal and our place in it. The top of the pole stands for the crystalline, starry heavens (unchanging, perfect, eternal, abode of the gods/triumphant heroes not us), the middle stands for the ordinary, mortal world (where regular humans belong), the bottom stretches to the watery underworld, where all mortal souls travel upon death (it s watery, misty/confusing like a dream, the beast lurks in the deepest pit, solemn, but pretty much a grayer, quieter version of the mortal world)

19 The Shadow & Other Personality Symbols Physical Qualities: dark, blurry form, mirror image, disembodied voice, a ghost, a pursuer, a bully Abstract Connections: repressed self that is the dark side of the persona The pre-human, animal past fear, anger, shame, and desire Animal side = amoral more than evil

20 Ouroboros PHYSICAL QUALITIES: a snake/dragon looping back into a circle to eat its own tail; another similar image is the yin-yang of Taoism where the yin element exists within the yang and vice versa; the phoenix is a closely related symbolic archetype as well. ABSTRACT CONNECTION: much like themandala, it represents totality, wholeness, infinity particularly as a representation of the human psyche (mind); stresses the cyclical nature of the universe; also represents defense against forces of chaos and disintegration caused by entropy.

21 Elemental Forces The Desert: PHYSICAL QUALITIES a desolate, empty place of mortality. Often a silent dead end void of life or hope. ABSTRACT CONNECTION: our fears of nothingness as afterlife, the absence of an immortal soul; The Garden: PHYSICAL QUALITIES a primordial paradise, often with a supernaturally cultivated place of nature, also often containing the temptations of knowledge. ABSTRACT CONNECTION: innocence, happy ignorance, absence of wisdom, childhood under the protection of a father (sky-father) and a mother (earth mother) The Wilderness: PHYSICAL QUALITIES a chaotic and unpredictable place that is often confusing, dangerous, and menacing but also exhilarating sometimes a forest is the belly of the beast. ABSTRACT CONNECTION: our fears of the unknown, uncertainty, loss of order, our attempt to control our destinies (adulthood/maturity/wisdom derived from experience and hardship);

22 Water a symbol of life, cleansing, and rebirth represents the mystery of creation Sea spiritual mystery and infinity, timelessness and eternity River death / rebirth (baptism), flowing of time into eternity, transitional phases of life Deep, Still Water the unknowable, the primordial waters of life/creation Reflective Water your darker self, fears, desires

23 Fire a symbol of life force, cleansing/destroying, and the cycle of represents the cycles of destruction and rebirth Lake of Fire punishment of the soul through the tormenting opposition of elemental forces (lake=water, not fire) Rain of Fire same as above Ceremonial Fire/Smoke bringer of knowledge/light/enlightenment; purifying through destruction and regrowth

24 Symbolic Archetypal Colors White = absence (innocence, death), truth & purity Black = power, the unknown (death, mourning) Red = sanguinity (blood, life-force, passion, rage) Brown = earth, nature Green = fertility, renewal, wealth (greed, envy) Gray = afterlife, neutrality (passionless) Some Others = Yellow = humility, optimism, loyalty Blue = nobility, tranquility, purity, depression Orange = adventure, change (forced change, disruptiveness) Purple/Violet = paradox, mysticism

25 Symbolic Archetypal Numbers Prime Numbers = sacred, divine, indestructible 1 = the self, primacy, the source 2 = duality, mind/body, polarity 3= unity, spiritual awareness, reconciliation 4 = stability (four elements, cardinal directions{east=birth, West=Death}) 10 = totality, completion = chaos, disintegration, dissolution of the self 0 = primordialism

26 Name That Symbolic Archetype!