Humanity Remembers: On Jung, Mythological Criticism and Archetypes

Abstract

The influence of mythological criticism can still be felt in such popular contemporary works such as the Star Wars saga, but the scope of its influence is not limited only to science-fiction movies. As a result of a strong connection between mythological criticism, anthropology and psychology, certain authors from all of these fields have introduced key concepts relevant to the analysis of a variety of literary genres. In this article, some of these concepts will be explored, including Jung’s “collective unconscious”, “archetypes” and “individuation”, Frye’s “archetypes”, “mythoi” and “monomyth”, and Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey”. Thanks to the analysis of these notions, it is clear that, although not necessarily present in every work of fiction created, mythological criticism constitutes a valuable field that may serve as a theoretical framework for literary and media analysis.