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Explores the arrested development of American culture.
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Perpetual Adolescence
Jungian Analyses of American Media, Literature, and Pop Culture
Edited by Sally Porterfield, Keith Polette, & Tita French Baumlin
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Perpetual Adolescence
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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.
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Introduction to the Puer/Puella Archetype GEORGE H. JENSEN