Hope in Turbulent Times: The Longing for Rebirth in an American Cultural Complex

Abstract

This article first considers the early American experience of rebirth in a new land and its accompanying mythology of violence, conquest and scapegoating. This is contrasted with an emerging theme of rebirth through relatedness, visible in recent children’s films and in the dreams of individuals. The image of the frontiersman, the European colonists’ earliest hero, contrasts with that of a girl child who melts hardened attitudes through feeling values. These can be seen as a pair of opposites reflecting a resurgent cultural complex. A Jungian perspective can help us trace the movement of the collective psyche in American culture through popular literature, films and dreams.