Between the analytical and the critical: implications for theorizing the self¹

Abstract

This article considers some of the implications of the critical standpoint in 'general' psychology in view of Jungian assumptions about the development of the self. The first part introduces the critical standpoint, which encompasses a spectrum of postmodern psychologies sharing a critique of the discipline's 'mainstream' positivist approach, an interest in human lives as existing in culture and historical time, and sensitivity to the dialogical unfolding of the self. Social constructionism and specifically the theory of positioning, which posits the self as a discursive production, are described. The second part illustrates the contrast between the social constructionist and Jungian viewpoints with two possible interpretations of a four-year-old boy's fantasies. Although these viewpoints are diametrically opposed, the possibility of a conceptual 'middle ground' between them is indicated here with particular reference to Bakhtin's understanding of the dialogical act.

The Dialogical Jung: Otherness within the Self

“…Jones [44] advocated a dialogical “middle ground” position that recognizes the importance of both the embodied and social contexts of self, while acknowledging an ongoing tension between them. In dialogical terms, the local background of the socially constructed self constitutes what Papadopoulos [28] has called the “familiar other”, while the deep background of the archetypal self constitutes a “distant or exotic other”; and, as Papadopoulos went on to show, Jung tended to neglect the former and to unduly romanticize the latter.…”

Claiming the Self

“…It is interesting for me to think that as postmodern critiques are increasingly being levelled against discursive hegemony in culture, and especially psychology, the door is being opened to the one psychologist whose discounted voice resonates most clearly with postmodern and CYC agendas. This trend is further amplified by the plurality of voices on the post-Jungian stage, including those labouring to reconcile Jung's modernism with his postmodern trends (Jones, 2003a;Hauke, 2000). Although an account of the diverse threads in post-Jungian thought and their interweavings with the postmodern is not within the scope of this article, I will use some of Jung's classical ideas about the self as a jumping off point for my engagement with postmodernism and CYC praxis.…”

“…On the one hand, Jung is "paradigmatic of the grand-theory era" (Jones, 2003a), while on the other, he esteems the importance of what he called "the personal equation" noting that every theory arises out of the personal psychology of the theorist thereby precluding claims to final truth (Hauke, 2000). Analytic psychology generally pertains to an intra-individual psyche that is projected outwards to create culture, myth, and language.…”

“…Social constructivism, conversely, primarily pertains to the supra-individual power structures manifest in social discourses, which are internalized into people's private discourses (Jones, 2003a). What is taken to constitute selfhood (doing, saying, and feeling) could be shown to originate in language-enabled social processes.…”

Mixed Metaphors and Narrative Shifts

“…Jung does provide answers, but the answers depend on how we read him. New crossroads come into being when his work is examined afresh in view of the 'postmodern' movement in psychology, with which it shares a concern with issues of selfhood, subjectivity, signification and embodiment (Jones, 2003). New roads open up because the gravity centre of theorizing those issues has shifted.…”