Jung, Psychology, Postmodernity

Jung, Psychology, Postmodernity explores points of confluence and, more often, contradictions between Jungian and postmodern ideas.

Throughout the book Raya Jones examines how personal meaning emerges in human activity. Jung addressed this in terms of symbol formation, with particular attention to dreams, myths, art and other fantasy productions. Postmodern psychologists tend to address issues of meaning in terms of peoples self-understanding and identity construction, with a focus on self-positioning in actual conversation or on autobiographical narratives. Jones draws a line of critical comparison between postmodern psychology and Jung’s descriptions of the symbolic dimension, myth, and the structure of the psyche. The book culminates with an evaluation of Jung’s psychic energy concept, for which there is no direct counterpart in postmodern psychology.

Jung, Psychology, Postmodernity is an original critique of two key moments in the history of psychology. It will be welcomed by Jungians, as well as psychotherapists, and students of psychology.

Raya A. Jones is a social and developmental psychology lecturer at Cardiff University. She is a committee member of the International Association for Jungian Studies.