Titova Ju. V.

Ulyanovsk State Technical University, Russia

Archetypal analysis problems in literature

It should be pointed out that some symbols have a universal range of meaning and occur with the same meaning across individual and cultural boundaries. These universal symbols are often called archetypes.

According to the dictionary definitions, archetype is the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype; or a universally understood symbol, term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated.

An archetype is a well recognized idea in different spheres such as in psychology (a model of a person, personality, or behavior), philosophy (ideal forms of the perceived or sensible objects or types), literature and culture (prevailing image with multilevel structure from separate literature works to the whole literary schools) and so on.

The word “archetype” was coined by Carl Jung, who developed an understanding of this term as being ancient or archaic images that derive from the collective unconscious.

The archetypes are also referred to as innate universal psychic dispositions which form the substrate from which the basic symbols or representations of unconscious experience emerge. These are different from instincts, as Jung understood instincts as being “an unconscious physical impulse toward actions and the archetype as the psychic counterpart”. There are many different archetypes and Jung has stated they are limitless, but they have been simplified; examples include the persona, the shadow, the anima, the animus, the great mother, the wise old man, the hero, and the self. The great mother, wise old man and the hero tend to be considered add on from the basic as in Jung’s map of the soul everything is covered, but those. The archetypes can be used for a sense of understanding as well as for a state of treatment [1]. “The archetype is a tendency to form such representations of a motif - representations that can vary a great deal in detail without losing their basic pattern ... They are indeed an instinctive trend”. Thus, “the archetype of initiation is strongly activated to provide a meaningful transition ... with a “rite of passage” from one stage of life to the next”: such stages may include being parented, initiation, courtship, marriage and preparation for death [2].

Jung first applied the term archetype to literature. He recognized that there were universal patterns in all stories and mythologies regardless of culture or historical period and hypothesized that part of the human mind contained a collective unconscious shared by all members of the human species, a sort of universal, primal memory.

Jung described archetypal events: birth, death, separation from parents, initiation, marriage, the union of opposites etc.; archetypal figures: great mother, father, child, devil, God, wise old man, wise old woman, Apollo, trickster, hero - not to mention “Oedipus ... the first archetype Freud discovered” or “number ... an archetype of order”; and archetypal motifs: the Apocalypse, the Deluge, the Creation, etc. Although the number of archetypes is limitless, there are a few particularly notable, recurring archetypal images, “the chief among them being” (according to Jung) “the shadow, the Wise Old Man, the child (including the child hero), the mother ... and her counterpart, the maiden, and lastly the anima in man and the animus in woman”[3].

Archetype in literature is a symbol, usually an image, which recurs often enough in literature to be recognizable as an element of one's literary experience as a whole. Carl Jung used the term “archetype” to refer to the generalized patterns of images that form the world of human representations in recurrent motifs, passing through the history of all culture. Since archetypes are rooted in the collective unconscious, they may be conceived through the psychic activity of any individual, be it in the form of dreams, art works, the ancient monuments of religious activity, or the contemporary images of commercial advertising. Such archetypes as the “innocent babe”, the “unheeded prophet”, the “philosopher's stone” and many others which also have their source in the primitive darkness of the unconscious, are repeated in numerous works of cultural creation.

While there is much evidence to support the existence of universal symbols, or archetypes, one must remember that any use of a symbol is specific, and that makes its meaning specific. Just as the word “tree” used in a sentence has a specific meaning, rather than the general meaning given in the dictionary, so an archetype used in a work of art has specific meanings, rather than a general meaning one might find in a dictionary of archetypes.

Archetypes include more than symbols – they also include character types, basic plots, scenes, and so on. Essentially, archetypes are universally meaningful, nonliteral elements in the arts and culture.

Archetypal analysis of a work is one of the most common forms of literary analysis.

An archetype is a perceptual art world image aimed at understanding the writer’s literary symbols world. It is a recognition figure originally engraved on the literature (culture) memory influencing the archetypal form of recognition.

One of the crucial functions of archetype as a recognition figure and communicative model is to pass on the historical and cultural experience of ancestors to new succeeding generations.

Literary archetype can be considered to be a role model, to be exact, an ideal model that is duplicated and developed, imitated and modified. An archetype defines an aesthetic dominating idea of the art writer world.

Throughout all literature there are symbols, many of them with universal meaning. Archetypal symbols are seen in many different stories, and portray almost the same meanings to all audiences. Some symbols have very complex meanings, like water symbolizing birth, death, and resurrection, as well as purification and fertility. Others are more clear-cut, like sun rise and sun down symbolizing birth and death [4].

An archetypal setting has some universal aspect that is associated with certain human experiences or feelings. A good example of an archetypal setting would be “the garden” possibly symbolizing the Garden of Eden, and a safe controlled environment. In theory an archetypal setting could be considered the place that you would expect a certain story to take place. When a character in a story is too materialistic and needs to change their ways, the desert might be a good archetypal setting. This is because the desert is a place where a person can find almost nothing material, and would have to learn to survive as a minimalist [5].

Among the most common archetypes are:

1. Situational archetypes are situations that appear over and over in movies, literature, and stories of all kinds. Almost every story is based on a version of the archetypal hero’s quest and contains other situational archetypes, as well. The most common of all situational archetypes, death and rebirth, is a motif grows out of the parallel between the cycle of nature and the cycle of life. It refers to those situations in which someone or something, concrete and/or metaphysical dies, yet is accompanied by some sign of birth or rebirth.

2. Symbolic archetypes stored in the collective unconscious of the mind, emerge in symbolic form in the world's myths, religions, art, literature, symbolic philosophies and dreams. The notable examples are “light vs. darkness” (light usually suggests hope, renewal, or intellectual illumination; darkness implies the unknown, ignorance, or despair); “heaven vs. hell” (humanity has traditionally associated parts of the universe not accessible to it with the dwelling places of the primordial forces that govern its world. The skies and mountaintops house its gods; the bowels of the earth contain the diabolic forces that inhabit its universe).

3. Natural archetypes (water means mystery of creation, birth, purification; sea symbolizes Mother of all life; rising sun means birth or creation; desert symbolizes hopelessness; snow means purity; fire is the ability to transform, love, life, health, control, sun, God, passion, spiritual energy; stars symbolize guidance, etc.)

4. Character archetypes are basically character profiles that outline the motivations and behaviors of different types of characters. Obviously there can be as many character types as there are kinds of personalities, so thinking about the ways that your characters would behave in different situations is key to creating believable characters that readers will relate to.

A majority of the common archetypes can be found within most good stories. In these stories the characters fit general character molds also used in past stories, with some of the original character molds probably going back as far as the origination of language. It is easily stated that people enjoy stories that use the same basic hero’s journey story mold and have commonly known archetypes than those that do not. In some stories recognizing archetypes may be harder than in others, but nonetheless they are present. Archetypes do not only fit to characters though, there are settings, symbols, events, and themes that are very archetypal as well.

Generally speaking, archetypes in literature are characters, images and themes that symbolically embody universal meanings and basic human experiences. One of the greatest features of archetypes is that they can’t be regarded as isolated ones in a separate work of art. The term itself assumes interaction and evolving from a prototype through various structures. According to the historical and literary development some modern scientists try their best to find out archetypal sequence of an ever-evolving and getting more sophisticated prototype.

Bibliography

1. Fiest J., Friest G. Theories of Personality. – New York, 2004.

2. Jung C. G. “Approaching the Unconscious” in C. G. Jung ed., Man and his Symbols. – London, 1978. – p. 58

3. Richard I. Evans, Jung on Elementary Psychology. – London, 1979. – p. 52

4. Brunel P. Companion to Literary Myths, Heroes and Archetypes. – New York: Routledge, 2001.

5. Franz, Marie-Louise von. Archetypal Patterns in Fairy Tales. – Toronto: Inner City, 1997.