A Library Guide to Jung's Collected Works

Trickster: "When Jung first encountered the image of the Trickster, he was reminded of the tradition of carnival with its striking reversal of hierarchic order and medieval observances where the devil appeared as 'the ape of God'. He found in the Trickster a striking resemblance to the alchemical figures of Mercurius with his fondness for sly jokes and malicious pranks, power to change shape, a dual nature (half animal/half divine), the urge for unremitting exposure to privation and torture as well as an approximation to the figure of a saviour. An altogether negative hero, the Trickster yet manages to achieve through his stupidity what others fail to achieve by concentrated effort." (p. 152) [Read more]

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Trickster. "Psychologically, descriptive of unconscious shadow tendencies of an ambivalent, mercurial nature. (Sharp, 1991)".

[The trickster] is a forerunner of the saviour . . . . He is both subhuman and superhuman, a bestial and divine being, whose chief and most alarming characteristic is his unconsciousness. ["On the Psychology of the Trickster-Figure," CW 9i, para. 472]
The so-called civilized man has forgotten the trickster. He remembers him only figuratively and metaphorically, when, irritated by his own ineptitude, he speaks of fate playing tricks on him or of things being bewitched. He never suspects that his own hidden and apparently harmless shadow has qualities whose dangerousness exceeds his wildest dreams. [Ibid., para. 478.]

Figures of the Trickster: "A famous trickster of the Mediterranean region, along with Prometheus, is Hermes, messenger of the Greek gods. Hermes roams everywhere with impunity, protects thieves and the underhanded, and is identified with Ibis-headed Egyptian Thoth, the master of secret knowledge. In Teutonic mythology, the crucial trickster is Loki the troublemaker. Wolf, Fox, and Raven frequently emerge as his cohorts. African trickster figures such as the Hare and the Hyena of the Kaguru people, the spinning Ananse (or Ture) of the Ashanti, or Eshu Elegba of the Yoruba, somewhat similar structurally to the Judeo-Christian Lucifer, all have multiple connections with everyday life. Rich in their variants, trickster tales and their protagonists can become metaphors for human conduct (‘busy as Eshu’). North American trickster figures frequently appear in the guise of animals" (p.1921) [Read more]

"Tricksters are found in the unwritten literature of peoples over all the world, and usually many tales or cycles are devoted to their exploits. They vary with the fauna of the area in which they are found. Thus Coyote is a widespread trickster of North America, while Spider is the trickster of the Gold Coast and neighboring regions of West Africa. Psychologically, the role of the trickster seems to be that of projecting the insufficiencies of man in his universe onto a smaller creature who, in besting his larger adversaries, permits the satisfactions of an obvious identification to those who recount or listen to these tales. The trickster is frequently a character in the sacred mythology of a people, and is often regarded as the culture hero who has brought the arts of living to mankind. In at least one African mythological system, that of Dahomey, the divine trickster, Legba, youngest son of the creator, represents the philosophical principle of accident—the way out—in a world where fate is predetermined." [Read more]

"Until recently, scientific and literary cultures have existed side-by-side but most often in parallel universes, without connection. The Trickster Brain: Neuroscience, Evolution, and Nature by David Williams addresses the premise that humans are a biological species stemming from the long process of evolution, and that we do exhibit a universal human nature, given to us through our genes. From this perspective, literature is shown to be a product of our biological selves. By exploring central ideas in neuroscience, evolutionary biology, linguistics, music, philosophy, ethics, religion, and history, Williams shows that it is the circuitry of the brain's hard-wired dispositions that continually create similar tales around the world: "archetypal" stories reflecting ancient tensions that arose from our evolutionary past and the very construction of our brains. The book asserts that to truly understand literature, one must look at the biological creature creating it. By using the lens of science to examine literature, we can see how stories reveal universal aspects of the biological mind. The Trickster character is particularly instructive as an archetypal character who embodies a raft of human traits and concerns, for Trickster is often god, devil, musical, sexual, silver tongued, animal, and human at once, treading upon the moral dictates of culture. Williams brings together science and the humanities, demonstrating a critical way of approaching literature that incorporates scientific thought."

"Based on the author's discovery of a new folktale type, the female trickster, Jurich's book identifies and celebrates those female protagonists in folktales who use trickery to save themselves and others, to find new directions for their lives, and to declare their individual autonomies, especially in societies that diminish and oppress women. Through creative strategies depending on verbal facility, psychological acuity, and diplomatic know-how, these women tricksters--better named trickstars--uncover the absurdity, hypocrisy, and corruption in the larger patriarchal society. Through the trickstar's efforts, the system is circumvented or foiled, often enlightened, and usually improved. This multicultural, comparative study reveals universal human traits as well as gender differences between female and male tricksters and realizes the values and attitudes which shape the trickstar's character and behavior. Trickstars also appear outside of the oral folktale tradition; the author discusses their roles in contemporary feminist revisionist tales, as well as in mythology, biblical narratives, Shakespearean comedy, novels, plays, and opera. How the female trickster differs from her male counterpart is, for the first time in folklore studies, illustrated through a comparison of their functions in the narrative scheme of the tale. These functions include the diverting or amusing role, the morally ambiguous or reprehensible role, the role of the manipulator or strategist, and the role of the transformer or culture bringer who reforms and improves the nature of her society. Jurich delineates the specific types of tricksters who perform these functions, suggests how trickstar tales variously affect listeners and readers, and shows how particular types of trickstar characters contribute to the intent of the tale. Feminist views of the protagonists are analyzed as well as contemporary revisionist tales which seek to reverse negative female images and to present independent women characters who can and do make positive contributions to society. For the first time in folklore studies, both female and male tricksters are defined and differentiated, their functions are illustrated through analyzing narrative schemes, and the term trickstar, invented by the author, is used to define and describe a female trickster."

"Mythical Trickster Figures, is the first substantial collection of essays about the trickster to appear since Radin's 1955 The Trickster. Contributions by leading scholars treat a wide range of manifestations of this mischievous character, ranging from the Coyote of the American Southwest to such African figures as Eshu-Elegba and Ananse, the Japanese Susa-no-o, the Greek Hermes, Christian adaptations of Saint Peter, and examples found in contemporary American fiction and drama. The many humorous trickster stories included are fascinating in themselves, but Hynes and Doty also highlight the wide range of features of the trickster--the figure whose comic appearance often signifies that the most serious cultural values are being both challenged and enforced."

"Troubling Tricksters is a collection of theoretical essays, creative pieces, and critical ruminations that provides a re-visioning of trickster criticism in light of recent backlash against it. The complaints of some Indigenous writers, the critique from Indigenous nationalist critics, and the changing of academic fashion have resulted in few new studies on the trickster. For example, The Cambridge Companion to Native American Literature (2005), includes only a brief mention of the trickster, with skeptical commentary. And, in 2007, Anishinaabe scholar Niigonwedom Sinclair (a contributor to this volume) called for a moratorium on studies of the trickster irrelevant to the specific experiences and interests of Indigenous nations. One of the objectives of this anthology is, then, to encourage scholarship that is mindful of the critic's responsibility to communities, and to focus discussions on incarnations of tricksters in their particular national contexts. The contribution of Troubling Tricksters, therefore, is twofold: to offer a timely counterbalance to this growing critical lacuna, and to propose new approaches to trickster studies, approaches that have been clearly influenced by the nationalists' call for cultural and historical specificity."

"Wild/lives draws on myth, popular culture and analytical psychology to trace the machinations of 'trickster' in contemporary film and television. This archetypal energy traditionally gravitates toward liminal spaces - physical locations and shifting states of mind. By focusing on productions set in remote or isolated spaces, Terrie Waddell explores how key trickster-infused sites of transition reflect the psychological fragility of their willing and unwilling occupants. In differing ways, the selected texts - Deadwood, Grizzly Man, Lost, Solaris, The Biggest Loser, Amores Perros and Repulsion - all play with inner and outer marginality. As this study demonstrates, the dramatic potential of transition is not always geared toward resolution. Prolonging the anxiety of change is an increasingly popular option. Trickster moves within this wildness and instability to agitate a form of dialogue between conscious and unconscious processes. Waddell's imaginative interpretation of screen material and her original positioning of trickster will inspire students of media, cinema, gender and Jungian studies, as well as academics with an interest in the application of Post-Jungian ideas to screen culture."

"The author, a psychiatrist and Jungian analyst, compares the effects of certain works of art in painting, film, fiction, and song to the double binds that emerge in communications between psychotic patients and their families. These artistic effects reveal a trickster at play and illuminate some of the dynamics of the archetypal field between artist and audience, in which unambiguous communication is almost impossible and the artist’s rage at being misunderstood must somehow be contained. The defensive strategy that is employed in creating a trickster work of art is connected to surreptitiously sustaining psychological values in communication with a world that may not wish to attend to them directly. The integration of the trickster’s gift for irony and ambiguity into the anima’s interest in making a sincere connection are important not only to the making of art that can endure, but also to every psyche’s ability to survive an often uncomprehending and unempathic world."

"The trickster appears in the myths and folktales of nearly every traditional society. Robert Pelton examines Ashanti, Fon, Yoruba, and Dogon trickster-figures in their social and mythical contexts and in light of contemporary thought, exploring the way the trickster links animality and ritual transformation; culture, sex, and laughter; cosmic process and personal history; divination and social change."

"For centuries, the trickster has been used in various narratives, including mythological, literary and cinematic, to convey the idea of agency, rebellion and, often turbulent, progress. In The Trickster and the System: Identity and Agency in Contemporary Society, Helena Bassil-Morozow shows how the trickster can be seen as a metaphor to describe the psycho-anthropological concept of change, an impulse that challenges the existing order of things, a progressive force that is a-structural and anti-structural in its nature. The book is about being able to see things from an unusual, even 'odd', perspective, which does not coincide with the homogenous normality of the mass, or the social system, or a political ideology, or some other kind of authority. The Trickster and the System offers an analytical paradigm which can be used to examine relationships between tricksters and systems, change and stability, in a wide range of social, political and cultural contexts. It covers a range of systems, describes different types of tricksters and discusses possible conflicts, tensions and dialogues between the two opposing sides. One of the central ideas of the book is that social systems use shame as a tool to control and manage all kinds of tricksters - individuality, agency, creativity, spontaneity, innovation and initiative, to name but a few. The author argues that any society that neglects its tricksters (agents of change), ends up suffering from decay, stagnation - or even mass hysterical outbursts. The Trickster and the System: Identity and Agency in Contemporary Society provides a fresh perspective on the trickster figure in a variety of cultural contexts. It covers a range of psychological, cultural, social and political phenomena, from personal issues to the highest level of society's functioning: self-esteem and shame, lifestyle and relationships, creativity and self-expression, media, advertising, economy, political ideology and, most importantly, human identity and authenticity. The book is essential reading for scholars in the areas of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, myth, cultural and media studies, narrative analysis, cultural anthropology, as well as anyone interested in critical issues in contemporary culture."

"The Female Trickster presents a Post-Jungian postmodern perspective regarding the role of women in contemporary Western society by investigating the re-emergence of female trickster energy in all aspects of popular culture. Ricki Tannen explores the psychological aspects of what happened when women's imagination was legally and psychologically enclosed millennia ago and demonstrates how the re-emergence of Trickster energy through the female imagination has the radical potential to effect a transformation of western consciousness. Examples are drawn from a diverse range of sources, from Jane Austen, and female sleuth narratives, to Madonna and Sex and the City, illustrating how Trickster energy is used not to maintain power and control but to integrate and unite the paradoxical through humour. Subjects covered include: imagination and metaphor the traditional trickster law and the imagination humour: Eros using logos the postmodern female trickster. This highly original perspective on women's role in contemporary culture will offer readers a new vision of how humour psychologically operates as a healthy adaptation to trauma and adversity. It will be of great interest to all analytical psychologists and psychoanalysts as well as those in women's, cultural, legal and literary studies."

"In Trickster Makes This World, Lewis Hyde brings to life the playful and disruptive side of human imagination as it is embodied in trickster mythology. He first visits the old stories--Hermes in Greece, Eshu in West Africa, Krishna in India, Coyote in North America, among others--and then holds them up against the lives and work of more recent creators: Picasso, Duchamp, Ginsberg, John Cage, and Frederick Douglass. Twelve years after its first publication, Trickster Makes This World ‐ authoritative in its scholarship, loose-limbed in its style--has taken its place among the great works of modern cultural criticism."

"Jungian analyst Del McNeely discusses the trickster archetype and women. Tricksters by their very nature force us to question our sense of order and morality. The mercurial, the paradoxical trickster twists us open to something new, something larger than our stacked and ordered ordinary selves - but to combine that with the feminine and with evil. This text presents the low-down on the female tricksters that have fascinated and ensnared us from Sheherazade through to the Mata Hari and right down to the fatal attraction next door."