English-Discussion: Jungian Myth

Using your own words, define

Jungian myth

in 1-2 sentences.

Imagine 3 pairs of glasses, and each pair of glasses represents a different “lens” through which the wearer of the glasses can view the world.  Same world…different view based on the color of the lens. 

 

Critical methodologies (also known as critical approaches) function in the same way.  In a nutshell, critical methodologies are different LENSES through which a reader can examine a particular text (short story, poem, play, novel, etc.).  Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays, the editors of our textbook, classify critical approaches into four major categories:  

1. Critical approaches that emphasize the text, 
2. Critical approaches that emphasize the source, 
3. Critical approaches that emphasize the receiver, and 
4. Critical approaches that highlight historical and ideological criticism.

Each major category houses a number of critical approaches.

• Emphasis on the Text – This approach limits the consideration of outside elements- author background, social factors, etc.

1. New Criticism – does not take into consideration source (author) or reader (you)
2. Structuralism
3. Poststructuralism
4. Deconstruction
5. Narrative Theory

1. Emphasis on the Source – This approach takes into consideration the author and author’s intention in writing the work. 

1. Biographical Criticism 

   Example: Lorraine Hansberry’s personally experience fighting restrictive covenants
   Example:  Toni Morrison’s own journey of racial self-discovery in the South 

2. Psychoanalytic Criticism (Freudian, Jungian and Myth, and Lacanian)

   Freudian – our human psyches share similar histories)
   Jungian – 

   the concept of the universal conscious/collective unconscious
   universal patterns and forms of human expereinces known as “archetypes.”
   examples:  rebirth story, hero’s quest, doubling, etc.
   Northrop Frye – archetypal criticism
   Big question:  Are there “shared, fundamental truths” that cross the boundaries of race, culture, nationality?  Examples – Flood myth

1. Emphasis  on the Receiver -The emphasis of this approach is the way in which the reader “receives,” interprets, and appreciates the text.

1. Reader-Response Criticism 
2. Historical and Ideological Criticism – This approach takes into consideration the historical and cultural context(s) of a work.

1. Marxist Criticism
2. Feminist Criticism
3. Gender Studies and Queer Theory
4. African American and Ethnic Literary Studies
5. New Historicism 
6. Cultural Studies
7. Postcolonial Criticism and Studies of World Literature