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Yet Jung personally was contemptuous of Joyce Tom Send a noteboard - 19/01/2012 06:41:58 PM
Ironically, much of Jung's criticism of Joyce would not have been applicable to Tolkien. As I said in my review of Jung's article on Ulysses:

It is evident that he does not see Joyce as an innovator because he finds him mired in a Medieval Catholic Irish world. His studied attempts at distancing himself from this background are like, in Jung’s words, the aristocratic Bolshevik who revels in not shaving. Silly and symbolic gestures are taken to remove the author from his background, but it only reinforces that he is still a slave to a particular mindset.

On a psychological level, the novel itself is also flawed. Although Jung believes that there is an attempt to associate with a dream world, he finds Joyce’s novel far too sober and everyday to effectively tap into the dream-consciousness of the reader. Likewise, although he sees clear association of the major characters to archetypes with which a reader can identify, the nature of the association is too shallow to have any real resonance.


Tolkien is certainly distanced enough from the background of his story, and his novel is likely effective at tapping into the "dream-consciousness" of the reader. You and Larry may disagree, but I feel that Tolkien's symbolism, while not subtle, is also rich enough and deep enough that Jung would have approved.


Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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1961 Nobel Finalists: J.R.R. Tolkien - 19/01/2012 09:27:46 AM 1104 Views
It's difficult to assess Tolkien's relative merits then 51 years later. - 19/01/2012 02:41:52 PM 736 Views
Yes, Edwardian prose does not thrill me - 19/01/2012 02:58:00 PM 702 Views
Re: Yes, Edwardian prose does not thrill me - 19/01/2012 03:34:02 PM 561 Views
Re: Yes, Edwardian prose does not thrill me - 19/01/2012 03:45:07 PM 663 Views
Yet Jung personally was contemptuous of Joyce - 19/01/2012 06:41:58 PM 549 Views
Tolkein is an excellent example why I usually dismiss literary critics/critiques - 23/01/2012 05:57:51 PM 803 Views
There's a lot more to it than that. - 23/01/2012 07:20:30 PM 673 Views
True - 23/01/2012 07:57:42 PM 661 Views
You can't dismiss his impact, even if you do not like his storytelling. - 23/01/2012 07:40:19 PM 728 Views
Who is dismissing that he influenced millions well after 1961? - 23/01/2012 07:54:27 PM 657 Views
That's an odd argument - 23/01/2012 07:51:49 PM 743 Views
Not really - 23/01/2012 10:35:39 PM 592 Views
Eh... - 24/01/2012 12:40:37 AM 620 Views
Depends on what you see as the point of literature. - 24/01/2012 08:14:07 AM 578 Views
the point of literature. - 24/01/2012 01:30:28 PM 686 Views
NO - 24/01/2012 02:05:11 PM 562 Views
Re: NO - 25/01/2012 02:54:57 PM 556 Views

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