Jung: A Feminist Revision

by Susan Rowland

Jung: A Feminist Revision explores the relationship between feminist theory and Jungian studies. It combines an original student-friendly introduction to Jung, his life and work, his treatment of gender and the range of post-Jungian gender theory, with new research linking Jung to deconstruction, post-Freudian feminism, postmodernism, the sublime, and the postmodern body. Feminism has neglected Jung to its own detriment. While evaluating the reasons for this neglect, Jung: A Feminist Revision uses the diversity of feminist critical tools from historical analysis to poststructuralism. In a fresh and illuminating study, this book provides both a critique of Jung and demonstrates his positive potential for future feminisms. New theories are explored which develop relationships between the work of Jung and Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray, Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler. Particular attention is paid to the growth of post-Jungian studies of gender. This includes a cogent study of the tradition of Jungian feminism that looks to ‘the feminine principle' and narratives of goddesses. Jungian 'goddess' feminism's enduring appeal is re-examined in the context of postmodern re-thinking of subjectivity and gender. The book proposes a re-orientation of Jungian studies in its relationship to feminism. The result is an accessible text that introduces Jung and sets out his relevance to contemporary feminisms. This book will be essential reading for undergraduates and postgraduates studying feminist theory, psychoanalytical theory, literature and psychology.

Genres: Psychology, Academic, Womens Studies

200 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2001

About the author

In middle age I ran away with an American poet to be happy. Now I live on the west coast usa writing cozy-ish murder mysteries with 21st century themes. I aim to explore heroes who are women from the margins.

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I also had a life teaching depth psychology, literature and publishing on Jung, the feminine, creativity and arts-based research.

Reviews

[Araminta Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book for the feint of heart. This is academia at its finest. Rowland has finally made palatable the theories and expositions of Jung (who is a sexist bastard in his theory and practice, to be sure). Thank you Rowland. I wanted Jung's alchemical writings and personal myth and mysticism as a foundation for my personal psychology, but could not bring myself to reconcile his overt sexism (and complete lack of self-awareness thereof). This work helped me to do just that.

[Bohdan Pechenyak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A relatively short book that presents a feminist interpretation of Jung’s work in a condensed and efficient manner. Moving from biographical summary and an overview of Jung’s theories, through the univocal “Jungian feminism” that extends, revises or “amplifies” (a Jungian term) his ideas, culminating in a form of “goddess feminism”, and on to the multiple Jungian feminisms based in the poststructuralist, postmodern, and post-Freudian currents (even briefly looking forward to ecofeminism and cyberfeminism), Susan Rowland highlights the tension between the Enlightenment-oriented Jung, reaching out for a grand narrative of psyche and culture, and the Gothic (rather than postmodern or deconstructionist) Jung, undermining that theoretical narrative with his central, sublime and unknowable unconscious. This tension is most obvious in his theorizing about anima as the independent “other” of masculinity, which he often tends to collapse into female sex (and specific important women in his life) and into “the feminine”, this essentializing the latter. Despite this tendency, his theories contain a lot of rich and promising material to support a feminist perspective in our postmodern world.

[Adam Kathrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and accessible, Jung: A Feminist Revision* re-examines Carl Jung through a feminist lens, blending historical critique with postmodern theory. It explores Jung’s overlooked relevance to feminism, connecting his ideas with thinkers like Lacan, Irigaray, and Butler. A must-read for students of gender, psychology, and critical theory.

[Michael Sasson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this might be a better book than what I got out of it. The author was trying to do something different than what I wanted to learn. There were still moments of insight that I really appreciated.

[Tracy]

I was putting away papers from the intro class I just taught, and I found a mention of this book. The reference was obscure, so I started hunting. . .

and decided I would have to read this book!

Many contemporary scholars hate Jung because he's easily understood to be sexist, racist, and just one of those awful dead white males we love to hate. Is it possible to find anything worthwhile in what he says? Well, in my own experience with his theories, I have found him to be enlightening. His racism and sexism aren't in the service of sexism or racism but often point the way towards liberation.

Apparently, Rowland (her last name is part of my home town! - ha!) sees the same in Jung's work. She directly addresses his problematic works, his life, and she purportedly saves his insights into what it means to be human.

Can't wait to read it.

[Frater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great survey of the current literature on a revision and expansion of Jung's theories of gender relations with an emphasis on the feminine.