The Love-Hate Relationship between Jung and Modern Art

Abstract

This paper takes Jung’s essay ‘Ulysses’ as a case study in order to elucidate his opinion on the relationship between modern artists and mental insanity. The study seeks to contradict a common misconception that Jung ‘diagnoses’ modern artists such as Pablo Picasso and James Joyce with schizophrenia; instead, the paper sheds light on the cultural (not pathological) connections he makes between modern artists and art. The study examines Jung’s writings on modern art and aesthetics, aiming to dismantle some misinterpretations that might make his attitude toward them appear to be a diagnostic one. Above all, I suggest that through his reading of Ulysses, Jung shows how the feelings of confusion that arose in him can actually be reconstructive; this leads to what I would dub a ‘psychic synthesis’ through modern art. Finally, after clarifying Jung’s standpoint on modern art and insanity, this paper seeks to significantly contribute a revaluation of Jung on modernism.