Joseph Campbell's Heroes And Carl Jung's Observations
----
The following
passages are
excerpts from passages
Describing Joseph Campbell's Theories
And
Carl Jung's Observations About Heroes:
They are the thoughts and ideals quoted from
a web site about
The New Mythology
by Dominic Thomas Sagolla II,
with all rights reserved and gratefully acknowledged:
--
Jung: Collective Unconscious
There is a further difference between the
images of
external reality and the archetypes.
Images of external reality make
up the contents of our conscious memory
and also of our artificial reminiscences
that is, our books, archives, etc. --
while archetypes are records of reactions to
subjective sense-images.
In our conscious memory we record things as they are
subjectively,
as memories of real facts,
but in the unconscious
we record the subjective
reactions to the facts
as we percieve them
in the conscious.
I should suppose that
there are layers even of such repercussions,
reactions of reactions,
and that they would
form the stratification of the mind.
Analytical Psychology 135
--
Carl Jung,in his discussion of mankind's
reliance on Symbols And Signs
to bring meaning to their experience,
targets the way we acquire these symbols in the first
place:
There are many symbols,
however (among them the
most important),
that are not individual
but collective in
their nature and origin.
These are chiefly religious images ...
their origin is so far buried in
the mystery of the past that
they seem to have no human
source. But they are in fact
"collective representations,"
emanating from
The Primeval Dreams
and
creative fantasies.
As such,
these images are
involuntary spontaneous
manifestations and by no
means intentional inventions.
The finest treatment of this idea is
contained in
Frank Herbert's Dune series.
As the characters progress in mental
prowess,
they acquire an acute awareness
of the ancestral memories within them.
For some, it becomes a clamoring abomination,
but for others, like Moad'dib and Leto II, it
is used to guide the human race along
A Golden Path
to survival in the far distant
future, beyond the jihad.
Because, traditionally, it has been the
province of religious literature to carry the
most powerful collective imagery,
there
needs to be one more connection made
here.
Orson Scott Card has made the leap
from science fiction to religious literature,
but does religious literature include
mythology?
Let's look at the definition of mythology
again: "a body of
myths dealing with the
gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a
particular people."
Although many would
discount mythology,
and therefore science
fiction, as "an ill-founded belief held
uncritically, especially by an interested
group" (as Webster's 3rd definition states),
I (Dominic Thomas Sagolla II)
believe that an informed, critical
populace,
raised with the values and
collective imagery of a society now fully
immersed in the computer age,
can see the
analogies between
The Archetypes Of The Primitive Mind
and
The New Mythology
that we write and speak about.
"The experienced investigator
of the mind can similarly see
the analogies between the
dream pictures of modern
man and the products of the
primitive mind, its "collective
images, and its mythological
motifs ... the psychologist
must not only have a sufficient
experience of dreams and
other products of unconscious
activity, but also of mythology
in its widest sense."
Man and His Symbols (57)
Carl Jung once wrote:
"My views about the "archaic remnants,"
which I call "archetypes" or "primordial
images," have been constantly criticized
by people who lack sufficient knowledge of
the psychology of dreams and of mythology."
Man and His Symbols (57)
----
In the following passages,
. . . archetypes refer to models or representations
of Old Ideas,
the prototypes being the
original, mythological figures.
"I believe that speculative fiction
science fiction in particular
is the last American
refuge of religious literature
Real religious literature, I think,
explores the nature of
the universe and discovers the
real purpose behind it."
Card, Cruel Miracles 1-2
This fits very well with Carl Jung's
ideas about the collective unconscious.
Jung notes that collective
symbols are chiefly religious in origin.
. . . there can be no doubt
that Science Fiction
"unfolds part of the world view of a people"
(Card) is subconsciously concerned with the
metaphysical modes of the genre.
. . . the archetypes and models I present above are
intended to elucidate the connection between
the religious literature
(i.e. mythology) of
ancient times
and the new set of heroes and
models that we are presented with today.
These archetypes, . . . barely connect
with the old stories, you say.
I (Dominic Thomas Sagolla II) intend
the above pages to forge a new set of
categories for
A New Mythology.
Watch for them in your reading.
----
The . . .Hacker Heroes
serve to "unfold a
part of the world view of a people or
explain a practice,"
as Webster's defines.
. . . many of the SciFi readers out
there are self-proclaimed 'computer nerds,'
(so) there is a call for such
super-knowledgeable slicers.
. . . Other types of heroes are
The Savior/Messiah Archetype.
Luke Skywalker falls under this category,
as does anyone who 'saves the Universe.'
Such cliches are unique to the genre of
SciFi, and this archetype is a direct result
of those cliches.
The hero is presented
with an insurmountable task, and once it is
overcome, the Universe changes
drastically, most times for the better.
The key to most
hero archetypes in Science Fiction is the
Rebel Model.
With the possible exception of the Star
Trek novels and series, every popular
Science Fiction setting relies upon a
rebellious faction or group, seeking a better life.
As in "Dune" . . . and . . ."Star Wars,"
conflict is the most obvious example, but it
is also the most successful.
The Rebel Model and the
Savior/Messiah Archetype
are fundamentally connected,
but they have to
have something to rebel against:
the Oppressive Order.
Within the history of the Star Wars
universe, there was the Old Republic,
a council that was too democratic for its own
good, which was usurped by then-Senator
Palpatine and his New Order.
This Oppressive Empire Of Fear And Tyranny
was replaced by the New Republic after the
events of Return of the Jedi.
As the story
continues, the scattered forces of the
Empire are struggling against this New
Republic.
. . . The most obvious
and well-known Oppressive Order is
detailed in
George Orwell's "1984."
In most cases, the Order is simply a projection of
tradition and history.
Therefore, there must
be some kind of bastion of the old ways,
called
The Old Man/Father History Figure.
Since Piercy's "He, She and It"
is set up as
an historical allegory,
there is more than
one tie to the past that can be called
History.
Malkah and Avram fill this role
together, figuratively giving birth to the new
generation and holding them back at the
same time.
. . . The
old warrior Gurney Halleck fulfills the
Father History role nicely with his tales of
yore and poetry from beyond yesterday.
Star Wars has more than one Old Man
figure; Yoda and Obi-Wan combine the
roles of teacher and historian, but even
together they cannot stop Luke from
rushing headlong into a trap at Cloud City.
. . . the purpose of the Old Man is not just to
create a tie to the old regime, but to expose
the events of the past,
particularly
The Battles.
Most SciFi plotlines have, incorporated
into their historical settings,
set of battles
and political clashes that lend a certain
scope to the events being portrayed.
Most critics call this "Space Opera,"
while some decry it as sublimate pleasure-oriented
stories. I would counter that by noting the
unique position that Science Fiction holds
as a mythological genre. Because SciFi
stories are set in the future, fabulation may
take place after (or during) an apocolypse,
whether it be nuclear, as in
"He, She and It"
and
"Bladerunner" . . .
or conventional,
as in Dune . . .
In . . . Science Fiction, dark, apocolyptic visions
are a frontier (with) . . .
room for plenty of battles to fuel
the fire of popular approval.
In Jules Verne's From Earth to the Moon , it is
the Federal War that gives rise to the Gun
Club and the lack of wartime that prompts
them to attempt their launch.
Karel Capek's R.U.R. is the story of such a
conflict, using the history of the modern
world, with its wars and political tension, as
its setting.
. . . Ender's Game is a result of the first
conflict between humans and aliens,
and
the Bugger Wars
are played at on Earth as
well as in space.
. . . Contrasting these warlike
tales of glory are
The Ideals Of The Family Bond.
More than a few of the epic SciFi stories
. . . emphasize the value
of the Family Bond.
Dune is set up so that
almost ALL of the characters are ultimately
connected through genetic manipulation of
ancient bloodlines.
The tribe-families of
Stilgar and the fremen are examples of
communal values and the ideals of
responsibility to each other.
Much of "He, she and It"
is devoted to the question,
"What Is Family?"
Is Riva a mother if she is
never there? Are the anrdoid Yod and
human Shira siblings of each other?
. . .From Star Wars ,
readers learn about Chewbacca's
Life Pledge to Han,
and how this extends
to include Leia and her family.
Historically,
Luke and Leia couldn't have defeated the
evil Emperor without the help of their
father,
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader,
who is the supreme example of
The Myth of Transformed Evil.
The myth of transformed evil is a very
prevalent theme in Science Fiction.
The poison Water of Life must be transmuted
by a Reverend Mother for the masses to
enjoy pseudo-telepathic abilities, or by
Paul to prove that he is the Kwisatz
Haderach.
. . . Even Luke's
pupil, Kyp, must endure this black
transformation in order to more clearly see
the difference between good and evil, in
Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy
Trilogy.
Just as in Campbell's description
of the hero who must endore the fire of
initiation,
the new myths must preform their
cleansing ritual in order to prevail.
In this
way, Science Fiction, as a genre,
helps to
define what is right and wrong,
just as the
traditional stories
of
Ancient Greeks
(what most people think of when they hear the word 'myth')
represented,
and sometimes shaped, their ideals.
Dominic Sagolla is always saying
"geez, this seems old."
on the end of his web pages.
But to someone reading it for the first time
it seems
Fresh And New.
I thank him for his wonderful insights.
Tava Loved Joseph Campbell's
Theories On Mythology And The Heroe--
His Great Lovers Concept--
--And His Thoughts On
Heroes Against Tyranny And Control In Society--
Fit Together
Like Pieces Of A Puzzle --
Forming The Faces Of Modern Man
During Another Change In MIllenniums.
For further research visit websites about
Theories on Mythology and Heroes -- Joseph Campbell.