Description

In this, his most famous and influential work, Jung made a dramatic break with the Freudian psychoanalytic tradition. Rather than focusing on psychopathology and its symptoms, the Swiss psychiatrist studied dreams, mythology, and literature to define the universal patterns of the psyche. It foreshadows his development of the theory of collective unconscious.The book illustrates a theoretical divergence between Jung and Freud on the nature of the libido, and its publication led to a break in the friendship between the two men, both stating that the other was unable to admit he could possibly be wrong.According to Jung, his work is an “extended commentary on a practical analysis of the prodromal stages of schizophrenia”. The analysis is of the Miller Fantasies. These are fantasies of a woman Jung did not know, and who was only identified by the pseudonym Frank Miller. She recorded her fantasies, with her own comments and impressions, before she succumbed to an outbreak of schizophrenia. Jung explains their crucially significant mythological content and portending influence. The Miller Fantasies are included as an appendix in Symbols of Transformation.