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Central to the myth of Eros and Psyche is the theme of love and knowledge. Jungian psychologist and philosopher Erich Neumann’s reading of the myth centres on the light-bringing as the point of Psyche’s death and rebirth: death of her dependence, ignorance and passivity, and rebirth into womanly initiative and, most significantly, into agency and subjecthood. For Neumann, the two-fold wounding of Psyche and Eros that first gives rise to love, ‘creates the possibility of an encounter, which is prerequisite for love between two individuals.’ These sentiments, published in his 1956 book Amor and Psyche: The Psychic Development of the Feminine, bear out the conditions necessary in thinking of love as a discourse of alterity – conditions outlined in the philosophical writings of Luce Irigaray. Indeed, the only way to recuperate love as a positive experience for men and women is a vision of love in which both partners move away from the totalising realm of sameness, towards alterity. Irigaray’s treatment of gender identity has often been accused of being essentialist, a charge familiar to Jung and his followers, including Neumann. The processes of separation and individuation necessary for an encounter between lovers as two (self and other) as described by Neumann are not without their problems. He says, for instance, that “[Eros’] manifestation is dependent on her, he is transformed with Psyche and through her,” which reduces the feminine to conduit and medium for masculine development. This paper argues that despite objections to the gendered Jungian archetype, Neumann’s reading of the tale of Eros and Psyche can indeed contribute something of value towards thinking of love as a means of living ethically, especially where gender relations are concerned.
Author:
Central to the myth of Eros and Psyche is the theme of love and knowledge. Jungian psychologist and philosopher Erich Neumann’s reading of the myth centres on the light-bringing as the point of Psyche’s death and rebirth: death of her dependence, ignorance and passivity, and rebirth into womanly initiative, and most significantly, into agency and subjecthood. For Neumann, the two-fold wounding of Psyche and Eros that first gives rise to love, “creates the possibility of an encounter, which is prerequisite for love between two individuals” (1956, 86). These sentiments, published in his 1956 book Amor and Psyche: The Psychic Development of the Feminine, bear out the conditions necessary in thinking of love as a discourse of alterity, conditions outlined in the philosophical writings of Luce Irigaray. Indeed, the only way to recuperate love as a positive experience for men and women, is a vision of love in which both partners move away from the totalising realm of sameness, towards otherness and alterity. Irigaray’s treatment of gender identity has often been accused of being essentialist, a charge familiar to Jung and his followers, including Neumann. The processes of separation and individuation necessary for an encounter between lovers as two (self and other) as described by Neumann are not without their problems. He says, for instance, that “[Eros’] manifestation is dependent on her, he is transformed with Psyche and through her” (1956, 107), which reduces the feminine to the mere conduit and medium for masculine development. This paper argues that despite objections to the gendered Jungian archetype, Neumann’s reading of the tale of Eros and Psyche can indeed contribute something of value towards thinking of love as a means of living ethically, especially where gender relations are concerned.
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Abstract
This chapter engages Angela Carter with new feminist thought, paying close attention to her creation of nomadic subjectivities in The Passion of New Eve. Carter’s novel explores the possibilities offered by “becoming-minority/ nomad/ molecular/ bodies-without-organs/ woman” (, 192) revealed in love. Going beyond questions of desire and pleasure in her examination of love, Carter suggests that equitable love is possible only when gender is imagined differently. This must involve a radical re-thinking of the subject, and subjectivity, from one that is unitary and fully known, to one that is never fully known, existing always as potential, and revealed only in relation to others, but also as a relation to others.
Gender and love are so intimately interconnected that it sometimes seems as though they bring each other into being. But their relationship is shifting as human society develops new understandings of identity, gender and the self. The chapters in this volume explore the convoluted and ever-changing nature of love, gender and identity from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, bearing testimony to the perennial appeal of this field of inquiry. There are chapters on the historical constructions of love and gender; the philosophical aspects; the faultlines in twenty-first-century heteronormativity; and the challenges of love from and within the margins. Gender and love are interdisciplinary and this volume will appeal to scholars from all disciplinary protocols.
Gender and love are so intimately interconnected that it sometimes seems as though they bring each other into being. But their relationship is shifting as human society develops new understandings of identity, gender and the self. The chapters in this volume explore the convoluted and ever-changing nature of love, gender and identity from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, bearing testimony to the perennial appeal of this field of inquiry. There are chapters on the historical constructions of love and gender; the philosophical aspects; the faultlines in twenty-first-century heteronormativity; and the challenges of love from and within the margins. Gender and love are interdisciplinary and this volume will appeal to scholars from all disciplinary protocols.
This introduction serves as a brief outline of the chapters that are contained within this volume on Fluid Gender, Fluid Love. The chapters are based on the papers that were delivered at the fourth international conference on “Gender and Love,” which was held at Mansfield College in Oxford, United Kingdom, in 2014. The conference attracted a wide range of delegates, from whose number twelve were selected to contribute to this book. In the process of producing this volume, we have worked with the authors to extend a selection of the papers that were delivered at a thoroughly scholarly and enjoyable conference. The chapters cover a wide range of topics, ranging from historical and theoretical views of gender to representations of love in postmodern literary culture. The cognitive and scholarly fields of gender and love are almost impossible to define, but, in our view, this volume covers a wide section of current thinking on these important subjects.