Collective Abyss: (Re)imagining the Jung’s Archetypes

About the Project

I received $2500 to compose a chapbook of flash fiction pieces exploring and critiquing the psychological archetypes of the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Jung theorized that humanity has a collective unconscious in which there are certain recurrent images or archetypes which represent fundamental aspects of human psychology and experience. Examples include the Devouring Mother, representing the primordial fear of being controlled or smothered by a caregiver, or the Divine Child, symbolizing hope, renewal, and futurity. Jungian psychoanalysts use these archetypal images to “decode” patient dreams or creative works so as to “uncover” hidden psychological meanings. Jung has also been the subject of significant scholarly criticism in literary and cultural studies because he imagines Western cultural ideological formations as being universal, and his work has since fallen out of favor in much of academic psychoanalysis.

The collection was initially supposed to be 10 flash pieces, totaling approximately 10,000 words. Each piece would explore the accepted meaning of an archetype before challenging or inverting it with a story from a culture that does not share the image. I am pleased to say that I finished the collection and am currently editing it before pursuing publication with a small independent press. My initial proposal outlined 10 pieces, totaling approximately 10,000 words, but I ended up writing over 30,000 words across 20 pieces. The grant was instrumental in simply giving me the time and space to research, think, and write. Beginning the project, I was unsure about my ability to execute a larger creative work, but I ended up surpassing my wildest expectations. I am so much more confident in my artistic discipline and have an infinitely better sense of who I am as a writer. The Benenson Award has given me something I never imagined I would leave Duke with, namely faith in myself as an author and thinker, someone whose voice is good enough to be heard beyond the bubble of an introductory fiction course.

I would like to thank my creative writing professors Amin Ahmad and Meesha Maren-Hogan, both of whom have been immensely kind and generous with their time and expertise in helping me imagine and execute this project. I would also like to thank my recommenders, Dr. Antonio Viego and Amin Ahmad: thank you for believing in me and my craft. I would like to thank the Benenson Award Committee for seeing something in me as an artist that I’m not sure I saw in myself when I wrote my application. Most of all, I would like to thank the Benenson Family, for keeping the arts alive at Duke and beyond.