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If I were asked to sum up in a word the relationship between feminism and analytical psychology, the answer would inevitably be ‘one-sided’. Jungians, from Jung onwards, have always demonstrated a profound interest in the feminine and in feminism as a cultural and political movement, but feminism has until now shown little interest in Jung.
In feminist writings from De Beauvoir to Rose, from Firestone to Gallop, from Irrigary to Koffman, Jung is either unknown (both De Beauvoir and Firestone attribute the Electra complex to Freud) or ignored. But in 1976 a panel, ‘Woman and Psychology’, was held at the annual C. G. Jung Conference with the participation of Naomi Goldenberg, Madonna Kolbenshag and Carol Schreier Rupprecht, and the beginnings of a dialogue were established.
Despite this promising beginning, however, the ensuing years have seen little progress in this dialogue and for this reason Susan Rowland's book is particularly exciting. She says in her preface, ‘To its own detriment feminism has neglected Jung’, and her attempts to rectify this neglect and to demonstrate just why Jung is important for feminism are well thought out and stimulating.
The first two chapters of the book are essentially an introduction to Jung's life and writings. At the same time Rowland attempts to tease out the two principal and opposing strands in Jung's theories, which she calls ‘personal myth’ and ‘grand theory’. Jung himself describes his theory as his own ‘personal myth’, indicating that his theories are both the expression of his personality and the result of his investigation of his own unconscious fantasies. ‘Grand theory’ on the other hand is Rowland's term for Jung's intellectual ambition to extend his ‘personal myth’ to create a meta-narrative, a systematic and comprehensive psychology capable of explaining both the psychology of his patients and cultural manifestations such as mythology and religion. According to Rowland, it is this intertwining of ‘grand theory’ and ‘perso