The Great Mother
An Analysis of the Archetype
Published on 4. May 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
624 pages
978-0-691-16607-0 (ISBN)
Description
This landmark book explores the Great Mother as a primordial image of the human psyche. Here the renowned analytical psychologist Erich Neumann draws on ritual, mythology, art, and records of dreams and fantasies to examine how this archetype has been outwardly expressed in many cultures and periods since prehistory. He shows how the feminine has been represented as goddess, monster, gate, pillar, tree, moon, sun, vessel, and every animal from snakes to birds. Neumann discerns a universal experience of the maternal as both nurturing and fearsome, an experience rooted in the dialectical relation of growing consciousness, symbolized by the child, to the unconscious and the unknown, symbolized by the Great Mother. Featuring a new foreword by Martin Liebscher, this Princeton Classics edition of The Great Mother introduces a new generation of readers to this profound and enduring work.
Reviews / Votes
"Neumann's creative intuition has enabled him to read in these records of the past a content and meaning that throws a beam of light on the psychological history of [hu]mankind."--Journal of Analytical PsychologyMore details
Series
Edition
Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
185 halftones. 74 line illus.
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 141 mm
Thickness: 50 mm
Weight
655 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-16607-0 (9780691166070)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
07/2015
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€103.95
Available for download
Previous edition
Book
07/1972
Princeton University Press
€35.84
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Erich Neumann (1905-60), a psychologist and philosopher, was born in Berlin and lived in Tel Aviv from 1934 until his death. His books include The Origins and History of Consciousness, The Fear of the Feminine, and Amor and Psyche (all Princeton). Martin Liebscher is senior research fellow in German and honorary senior lecturer in psychology at University College London.
Content
*Frontmatter, pg. i*FOREWORD TO THE PRINCETON CLASSICS EDITION, pg. vii*FOREWORD, pg. xiii*NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT, pg. xv*CONTENTS, pg. xvii*LIST OF PLATES, pg. xxi*LIST OF TEXT FIGURES, pg. xxxix*PREFACE, pg. xlvii*Chapter One. THE STRUCTURE OF THE ARCHETYPE, pg. 3*Chapter Two. THE ARCHETYPAL FEMININE AND THE GREAT MOTHER, pg. 18*Chapter Three. THE TWO CHARACTERS OF THE FEMININE, pg. 24*Chapter Four. THE CENTRAL SYMBOLISM OF THE FEMININE, pg. 39*Chapter Five. THE TRANSFORMATION MYSTERIES, pg. 55*Chapter Six. THE FUNCTIONAL SPHERES OF THE FEMININE, pg. 64*Chapter Seven. THE PHENOMENON OF REVERSAL AND THE DYNAMIC OF THE ARCHETYPE, pg. 75*Chapter Eight. INTRODUCTION, pg. 89*Chapter Nine. THE PRIMORDIAL GODDESS, pg. 94*Chapter Ten. THE POSITIVE ELEMENTARY CHARACTER, pg. 120*Chapter Eleven. THE NEGATIVE ELEMENTARY CHARAc'rER, pg. 147*Chapter Twelve. THE GREAT ROUND, pg. 211*Chapter Thirteen. THE LADY OF THE PLANTS, pg. 240*Chapter Fourteen. THE LADY OF THE BEASTS, pg. 268*Chapter Fifteen. SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION, pg. 281*BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 337*ERICH NEUMANN, pg. 353*INDEX, pg. 355*PLATES, pg. 381