Behind, beneath, above, and beyond: the historical unconscious.

Abstract

The unconscious is more than a collection of intrapsychic and interpersonal variables. On a broader level, it reflects a complex, historically woven tapestry of moral and ethical values, beliefs, and assumptions. A particular historical context provides an experiential and interpretive template that conditions the boundary between what is conscious and unconscious. Beyond the scope of explicitly inherited values, beliefs, and assumptions is what the historical unconscious comprises. It lingers at the very edge of our conscious experience, behind, beneath, above, and beyond everything that is spoken or unspoken, enacted or restrained, imagined or suppressed.