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Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis
Bibliography: leaves 239-280.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Religious Studies
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613303138680832 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Joyner, Catherine |
| author2 | Chidester, David |
| author_browse | Chidester, David Joyner, Catherine |
| author_facet | Chidester, David Joyner, Catherine |
| author_sort | Joyner, Catherine |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Bibliography: leaves 239-280. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14651 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:59.204Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Religious Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Religious Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14651 Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis Joyner, Catherine Chidester, David Religious Studies Bibliography: leaves 239-280. This thesis suggests that dream analysis is a crucial theoretical tool, not simply to assist the individuation process, but also to gain understanding of the severing of body from soul that is so linked to addiction. Thus the thesis proposes that dream analysis is a key means to access one's spirituality, not, simply a psychoanalytic technique. It draws on a range of disciplines and discourses, located in a Jungian and ecofeminist framework, to suggest that a growing crisis of ill health - at both individual and ecological levels - is attributable, in essence, to a loss of soul. It focuses on addiction as a reflection of this loss, attempting to show that the relentless craving of the addict is best understood as spiritual hunger. The deep desire which underlies this hunger is expressed in multiple ways in our dreams. A major aspect of the thesis is an attempt to explicate the nature of the loss, and of the hunger which points to it. I suggest that both have their roots in the patriarchal conquest and denigration of women and the feminine, which may be seen inscribed on the ravaged bodies of women and Mother Earth. The first four chapters lay the groundwork for the case study of a woman whose experience illustrates much of the complexity of this theoretical discussion. The value of dream analysis as a theoretical tool which actively assists the individuation process is presented in Chapter 1 within a multi-disciplinary framework. In Chapter 2, the focus details and analyses the Jungian model and approach to dream interpretation in preparation for the concluding 9ase study. Parallels between relevant aspects of the Buddhist and Hindu traditions and Jungian models are also explored. Chapter 3 examines archetypal patterns of addiction seeking to understand the dynamic of wounded desire and displaced spiritual hunger. Postmodern links are made. Chapter 4 suggests that the devaluation and violation of the female body has its roots in the elevation of the patriarchal sky god of the Abrahamic tradition. The need for a rigorous application of a hermeneutic of suspicion towards androcentric constructions of meaning is highlighted and related to the vulnerabilities females experience in relation to embodiment. Foreshadowing key issues of the case study and linked clearly to the thematic of addiction, the impact of sexual abuse on the child's experience of embodiment becomes a theoretical focus. The case study conducted with a 31-year-old bulimic after her release from hospital, attempts to demonstrate the practical relevance of these ideas. A series of dreams recorded by her are analysed thematically and interpreted to support the claim that dreams offer a window on the transformative process of soul recovery. Thus major theoretical issues explored include the nature of the feminine, in various notions of "soul", themes of embodiment in relation to the disembodiment characteristic of the addict, the contemporary relevance of the archetypal imagery contained in myth and folk tales, and convergences between Jungian, ecofeminist, New Age, Eastern and postmodern discourses. Dream work, I suggest, opens the way to healing and empowerment. 2015-11-04T10:40:19Z 2015-11-04T10:40:19Z 1998 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14651 eng application/pdf Department of Religious Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Religious Studies Joyner, Catherine Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis |
| title_full | Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis |
| title_fullStr | Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis |
| title_short | Dreams, desire and addiction : an archetypal analysis |
| title_sort | dreams desire and addiction an archetypal analysis |
| topic | Religious Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14651 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joynercatherine dreamsdesireandaddictionanarchetypalanalysis |