Archetypal Criticism

Abstract

Archetypal criticism is a form of analysis based on the identification and study of recurring symbolic and mythic patterns. Although most commonly associated with the analysis of literature, art, and popular culture, archetypal criticism was originally employed in the discipline of anthropology by Sir James George Frazer in a compilation entitled The Golden Bough . First published in 1890, Frazer's seminal work comprised 12 volumes of extensive research into the myths, beliefs, and practices of various cultures and peoples. Nearly two decades later, C. G. Jung would pioneer analytical psychology, based on the hypothesis that inherited psychical images influenced human consciousness on a personal and collective scale. His work brought archetypal analysis into the realm of psychoanalysis, a field developed by Sigmund Freud during the turn of the century. For many years thereafter, Jung's work would continue to gain acclaim, and even today remains active in modified form. Archetypal criticism moved into the sphere of literary analysis following Maud Bodkin's groundbreaking Archetypal Patterns in Poetry (1934).