The Hungry Tide and Heart of Darkness: A Jungian Exploration of the Universalist Dimension as a Supplement to Time-Specific Approaches

Abstract

Common wisdom often prescribes locating the interpretation of literary works within the parameters of the time-specific phenomenon that characterizes the setting of the works including historical context and social setting. While this dictum has great utility, it simultaneously has the potential to draw attention away from the universal insights on offer that are applicable to all times and places, all epochs and all continents. Analytical Psychology, a school of psychology developed by C.G. Jung, coupled with the model of the monomyth developed by Joseph Campbell has the potential to shed light on this universalist dimension that underlies literary works. This universalist dimension can be construed through the lens of Jung’s idea of archetypes and its manifold paradigms and manifests itself in thematic conflicts including the centuries-old gulf between mythology and science and the tussle between archaism and modernism. The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh and Heart of Darkness are two novels that provide illuminating case studies that showcase the existence of this universalist dimension. Ultimately, by fusing together the localized and time-specific interpretation of these novels rooted in historical phenomenon such as colonialism and post-colonial environmentalism with the universalist paradigm offered by Analytical Psychology based on timeless psychic patterns and motifs, it is possible to arrive at a holistic interpretation that integrates both approaches—local and universal—to maximally illuminate the literary potential of both novels.