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For those well acquainted with Carl Jung and who may have long ago read Memories, Dreams, Reflections, or for those who have never read MDR, and everyone in between, we now have part two, and more. In fact, for those new to Jung, Reflections on the Life and Dreams of Carl Jung, by Aniela Jaffé, could be a wonderful introduction to the man and the expansive universe of his mind.
The “more” is Elena Fischli's paean to Frau Jaffé, in the form of a “Historical Commentary” on the genesis and publication history of MDR. Jaffé is responsible not for recording her countless hours spent with Jung at the end of his life, but for writing and editing her “protocols”, the raw content of her meetings with Jung that she later—sometimes months after their meeting—worked into the prose she felt most accurately captured his ideas and spirit. What perhaps few knew until now is that substantial portions of the protocols never made it into MDR due to page limitations, non-scientific, associative, and intuitive content, controversial ideas on the afterlife, or the aim of its publishers for wide popularity. Reflections is the book Jaffé spent the end of her life trying to publish but never could, one of her greatest regrets. Fischli unveils the story in all of its beauty and anguish.
Pantheon Books, the U.S. publishing house headed by Kurt Wolff at the time, and the European publishers involved, wanted readers to think MDR was Jung's voice alone, finally an autobiography written by the great man. Jaffé's protocols were declared a dictation. In fact, publishers tried to erase her altogether from MDR. If you're curious if Aniela Jaffé ever did get her due, a quick Google search and you'll find MDR “Recorded and edited by Aniela Jaffé,” or even, “MDR an Autobiography”. Paradoxically, Jaffé was pleased that so many thought what she wrote was Jung's actual voice. But she wrote her notes knowing she could not possibly capture each and every word.