Animus and Anima in Fairy Tales

Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts #100

by Marie-Louise von Franz

Le fiabe, se considerate con serietà, svelano il loro carico di significati inconsci ed esercitano una risonanza emotiva molto forte. Con la loro semplicità e immediatezza, toccano le corde più nascoste del nostro essere raggiungendo le emozioni più profonde. Sono la rivelazione delle dinamiche archetipiche della psiche inconscia. In questo volume M.-L. von Franz esamina alcune fiabe nel tentativo di cogliere quel che hanno da dirci sulle funzioni psichiche cui diamo nome di Animus (l'immagine interna del maschile nella psiche femminile) e di Anima (l'immagine del femminile presente nella psiche maschile). Perché parlando dei re e delle regine, parliamo di fatto di Animus e di Anima, quella coppia reale che esercita la funzione di governo sulle nostre fantasie e comportamenti, sia interiori che esteriori, in relazione all'altro sesso. "L'Animus e l'Anima - affermano i curatori nella prefazione al volume - non potranno più essere visti come astrazioni o mere teorie: M.-L. von Franz ci aiuta a capire e a sentire che queste immagini sono personificazioni di movimenti misteriosi e di dinamiche vitali. Contengono il segreto di una vita piena, relazionata e in sintonia con la nostra natura interiore."

Genres: Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Mythology, Nonfiction, France

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Marie-Louise von Franz was a Swiss Jungian psychologist and scholar.

Von Franz worked with Carl Jung, whom she met in 1933 and knew until his death in 1961. Jung believed in the unity of the psychological and material worlds, i.e., they are one and the same, just different manifestations. He also believed that this concept of the unus mundus could be investigated through research on the archetypes of the natural numbers. Due to his age, he turned the problem over to von Franz. Two of her books, Number and Time and Psyche and Matter, deal with this research.

Von Franz, in 1968, was the first to publish that the mathematical structure of DNA is analogous to that of the I Ching. She cites the reference to the publication in an expanded essay "Symbols of the Unus Mundus," published in her book Psyche and Matter. In addition to her many books, Von Franz recorded a series of films in 1987 titled The Way of the Dream with her student Fraser Boa.

Von Franz founded the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. In The Way of the Dream she claims to have interpreted over 65,000 dreams. Von Franz also wrote over 20 volumes on Analytical psychology, most notably on fairy tales as they relate to Archetypal or Depth Psychology, most specifically by amplification of the themes and characters. She also wrote on subjects such as alchemy, discussed from the Jungian, psychological perspective, and active imagination, which could be described as conscious dreaming. In Man and His Symbols, von Franz described active imagination as follows: "Active imagination is a certain way of meditating imaginatively, by which one may deliberately enter into contact with the unconscious and make a conscious connection with psychic phenomena."

Reviews

[Nadya Trifonova-Dimova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Няма как да е по-неясна, хаотична и завъртяна... напряга ме да се опитвам всяко изречение да го разбирам, четейки го по няколко пъти. На моменти направо нямат връзка изреченията едно с друго. Голяма греда 😑

[Katarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh boy. This is a book that will be hard to review.
It was so readable and I liked the way von Franz writes (my first book of her's).
The fairytale examples were interesting, and so were the psychological analysis of it. She gave various examples in between, and it made the analysis more complete. It was the first time I came across Jungian studies in such a depth, so a lot of the material here was new for me, interesting and it made me decide it was about time I started reading Jung.
However, some of the examples she mentions between the fairytale analysis were far-fetched, non-relevant and did not complement the last fairytale as much as it should (it actually went further away from it). I am not sure if I see in the fairytales everything she saw and analyzed, and it made me question the whole logic.
In any case, I liked it and enjoyed it, and would give it a go in a couple of years (when I get more familiar with other Jungian studies).

[Marko Bojkovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

U pitanju je kratka studija u kojoj Autorka obrađuje nekolicinu bajki i u istima pronalazi jungovske arhetipove anime i animusa, odnosno nadindividualne, kolektive, nesvesne predstave muškarca u ženi i žene u muškarcu. Kao i većina jungovih ili jungijanskih radova i ovaj nije prelak za razumevanje - nekada jeste na granici banalnosti i površnosti (recimo kada Marija Lujza skrene na polje kolektivno nesvesnog i u tome ključu tumači društvene pojave i pokrete, što je i Jung olako i nepromišljeno radio), ali su ipak centralni koncepti jungijanske misli kompleksni i teški za razumevanje, nekada se čini i namerno, kako bi sam praktikant/lekar ostao taj autoritet, nosilac ključa skrivene gnoze. No, ipak, pre bih rekao da je prosto to neminosvnost težine zadatka kojeg su se jungisti uhvatili i činjenice da su na tom polju zapadnjaci još uvek deca.

[Eleanor Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is much good news in this collection. One need never be overwhelmed: Genuine gifts are given, based not on the resolutions analysis provides but upon how handicaps are viewed - with detached interest and compassion or with fear and self-criticism.

For example, a frequent figure in fairy tales, the simpleton, Ivan, has more chance of success than do his smarter brothers. Why? Because, in his naiveté he is more open to new information and to spontaneous action than either of his more self-satisfied siblings. These skeletal tales, then, devoid of character development, provide the bare bones of patterns of behavior that can work for or against integration. Von Franz candidly suggests that disabilities can work in one's favour as a starting point:

"These patterns, repeated motifs (of conflict) in fairy tales are always linked with emotions, always a handicap in the outer world; always linked with the mystical." (MLVF)

Eleanor Cowan, author of : A History of a Pedophile's Wife: Memoir of a Canadian Teacher and Writer

[Ary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eu acho essas obras jungianas meio "interpretação is my passion", mas eu adoro isso, é o que eu gosto de fazer também. Tem insights muito preciosos, embora eu acho que analisar contos de culturas e épocas diferentes de forma tão esquemática, diga mais sobre os conceitos jungianos do que sobre os contos, mas é o risco que um sistema tão na fronteira entre a ciência e a espiritualidade corre. Fala muita besteira nos trechos onde toca a política, pensando dentro da esfera do "totalitarismo" dos liberais europeus, e comentários psicologiazantes do "comunismo russo", felizmente esses comentários são sempre en passant.

[Dounia Rezki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intéressantes remarques et anecdotes de la psychanalyste en lien avec les projections de ses patients sur le sexe opposé, avec "l'attitude collective" sur ces parts d'animus et d'anima selon la théorie jungienne en relation avec les contes populaires de différentes cultures. Globalement j'ai plus apprécié certaines analyses que d'autres, à garder en tête qu'il s'agit de notes de conférences principalement.

[Jessiane Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

“As pessoas vivem caindo no mesmo buraco; parece que ganham terreno, mas de repente escorregam de novo. Isso se repete, mas há sempre uma pequena parte do buraco já preenchida, um pouco dos ganhos retidos. Quando caem novamente na armadilha, sentem: “Ah! já passei por isso e consegui sair.””

[Von · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy interesante abordaje de los cuentos de hadas y la psicología.

[Mephistopheles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly articulated and brilliant as ever. This is not new ground if you are familiar with her work, but her analyses are always enlightening.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good in-depth look at the animus in woman's psychology with fairy tales being used as a jumping off point for doing so. Not as much as an in-depth look into the anima as was hoped, but still some very valuable information to be garnered here.

[Marge · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I didn't understand all of this, I found it interesting!