The Innateness of Myth: A New Interpretation of Joseph Campbell's Reception of C.G. Jung

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Description

Joseph Campbell (1904-1988) was one of the most well-known and popular scholars of myth and comparative religion of the twentieth century. His work, however, has never fully received the same amount of scholarly interest and critical reflection that some of his contemporaries have received.

In this book, based on extensive research in the Joseph Campbell Archive in Santa Barbara, Ritske Rensma shows that reflecting on C.G. Jung's influence on Campbell greatly furthers our understanding of these ideas, and that once this goal is achieved it becomes obvious that Campbell was a scholar whose ideas are still of significance today. Following Jung's lead, Campbell put great emphasis on the innate structures of themind, an approach which pre-echoes the current 'evolutionary turn' in fields such as cognitive theory, psychology, psychiatry and neurobiology.
This study will therefore not just be of interest to students and scholars interested in psychological approaches to the study of religion as well as Jung and Campbell, but also to those with an interest in recent developments in the above-mentioned fields

Reviews

"Going beyond the conventional paralleling of Campbell with Jung, Ritske Rensma argues that Campbell's view of Jung went through three stages. At first, Campbell granted Jung and Freud equal importance in the understanding of myth. Next, Campbell rejected Jung's view on, especially, the origin of myth in favor of the ethological view espoused by Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen. Finally, Campbell came to see the overlap between Jung and the ethologists. An original, scholarly approach to Campbell, one that rests substantially on the scrutiny of unpublished material. Strongly recommended." - Robert A. Segal, Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen, UK
This is the ideal book for readers familiar with the work of both Jung and Campbell. It will also be of interest for those wanting to know more about the study of myth and how it has changed throughout history. I commend this book to each and every reader comprising both groups. -- Theological Book Review Volume 23 No.1

Author Bio

Dr Ritske Rensma is currently teaching World Religions at the Roosevelt Academy in Middelburg, the Netherlands