Perpetual Adolescence: Jungian Analyses Of American Media, Literature, And Pop Culture

Perpetual Adolescence Jungian Analyses of American Media, Literature, and Pop Culture Edited by Sally Porterfield, Keith Polette, & Tita French Baumlin This page intentionally left blank. Perpetual Adolescence This page intentionally left blank. Perpetual Adolescence Jungian Analyses of American Media, Literature, and Pop Culture EDITED BY Sally Porterfield Keith Polette AND Tita French Baumlin Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2009 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production by Ryan Morris Marketing by Fran Keneston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perpetual adolescence : Jungian analyses of American media, literature, and pop culture / edited by Sally Porterfield, Keith Polette, and Tita French Baumlin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-2799-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-2800-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Adolescent psychology—United States. 2. Adolescence—United States. 3. Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav), 1875–1961. I. Porterfield, Sally F. II. Polette, Keith, 1954– III. Baumlin, Tita French. BF724.2.P47 2009 150.19'54—dc22 2008051873 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Acknowledgments Introduction to the Puer/Puella Archetype vii 1 GEORGE H. JENSEN Culture on the Couch: Western Civilization’s Journey from Crisis to Maturity 13 ANODEA JUDITH Puer and Hellmouth: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and American Myth 31 SUSAN ROWLAND Puer in Nature: The Monster and the Grizzly Man 47 RINDA WEST Grounding Icarus: Puer Aeternus and the Suicidal Urge 71 DUSTIN EATON The Puer as American Hero 89 SALLY PORTERFIELD Shaken, Not Stirred: James Bond and the Puer Archetype 105 LUKE HOCKLEY A Crown Must Be Earned Every Day: Seeking the Mature Masculine in High Art and Pop Culture 123 DARRELL DOBSON “Protracted Adolescence”: Reflections on Forces Informing the American Collective JOHN GOSLING 137 Senex and Puer in the Classroom: A Conflict of Consciousness in Education 155 KEITH POLETTE Insanity by the Numbers, Knowings from the Ground: Outgrowing and Outloving the Cult of Quantification 169 CRAIG CHALQUIST The Marriage of the Puer Aeternus and Trickster Archetypes: Psychological Rebirth for the Puer Personality 187 CHAZ GORMLEY Little Girl Lost: Sylvia Plath and the Puella Aeterna 203 SUSAN E. SCHWARTZ Provincials in Time: The Provisional Life 215 MARITA DELANEY List of Contributors 223 Index 227 Acknowledgments We express our personal gratitude in particular to Craig A. Meyer for his generous compilation of the index for this volume. In addition, our thanks go to James Peltz and Ryan Morris of SUNY Press for their expert guidance, and to James S. Baumlin for his assistance with early versions of the draft. This page intentionally left blank. Introduction to the Puer/Puella Archetype GEORGE H. JENSEN