This course is designed to offer the participants an overview of C. G. Jung’s thoughts while exploring what I call a “decolonial option” to his work. It is in a sense a form of epistemological resistance to the colonialist and imperialist aims that prevent underrepresented minorities from flourishing in the academic community. This course aims to offer a decolonial option to the traditional view of Jungian Studies. A decolonial option means to challenge the Eurocentric view of the psyche presented in Jung’s Collected Works by offering a novel interpretation of his theories through the concept of archetypal intersubjectivity, indigenous mythology, and dream analysis based on diatopic hermeneutics. There would be no need for a decolonial approach to Jungian studies if those concepts were delinked from the concept of modernity/coloniality. Jung’s definition of the psyche is in tune with the Western view of the world, which considers modern thought as the leading epistemological force in psychology and other social sciences.
This course is ideal for:
- Graduate students and professionals interested in Jungian and post-Colonial studies.
Course Overview:
Week 1, March 8, 2023 – Decolonizing C. G. Jung: Introduction
- A critical view and a decolonial option to the main topics in Complex Psychology (Jungian Studies) focusing on the concepts of (a) archetypes, (b) complexes, (d) unconscious, collective unconscious, (e) a working definition of consciousness, (f) myths, (g) dreams as personal myths.
Suggested reading:
Fanon, F. (1967). Black skin, white masks. Grove Press.
Jung, C. G. (1953). The collected works of C. G. Jung: Two essays on analytical psychology (2nd ed., Vol. 7). Bollingen Series XX. Princeton University Press.
Freud, S. (2005). The unconscious (G. Franklin, Trans.). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1915)
López-Pedraza, R. (2012). Cultural anxiety. Daimon Verlag.
Week 2, March 15, 2023 – A Decolonial Option to Jungian Studies: Amazonian Mythology
- Discussion on the concepts of modernity, coloniality, universality, pluriversality, archetype of the Great Mother/La Pachamama/ Yusha Kuru in Amazonian Mythology.
Suggested reading:
Armbrust, H.Y. (2022): What is a Decolonial Option to Jungian Studies?
Armbrust, H. Y. (2020): Archetypal Feminine in Kaxinawá’s Stories: A Decolonizing Option to a Jungian Approach
Mignolo, W., & Wash, C. (2018). On decoloniality: Concepts, analytics, praxis. Duke University Press.
Week 3, March 22, 2023 – A Decolonial Option to Jungian Studies: Archetypal Intersubjectivity
- Discussion on the concepts of archetypal intersubjectivity, dreams as personal myths
Suggested reading:
Armbrust, H.Y. (2020): Archetypal Intersubjectivity
Jung, C. G. (2009). The red book: Liber Novus (S. Shamdasani, Ed.). W.W. Norton & Company.
Week 4, March 29, 2023 – A Decolonial Option to Jungian Studies: Dream Analysis
- A Decolonial Option to Dream Analysis: Diatopic Hermeneutics, Dream Analysis Protocol, Practice.
Suggested reading:
Armbrust, H. Y. (2022): Decolonizing Dream Analysis in Complex Psychology (Jungian Studies)