| Philip Roth,one of the “three giants” of Jewish writing,along with Saul Bellow and Bernard Malamud,was an influential writer in contemporary American literature.The abundant themes and the bold description of his works in certain historical events do play a major impact on the world literary circle.The Human Stain,as the last work of Roth’s American trilogy,earned him a PEN/Faulkner Award in 2001.Since its publication,scholars have analyzed the novel from a variety of perspectives,such as identity crisis,racial ethics,psychoanalysis,etc.However,there are few studies that combine Jung’s analytical psychology and trauma perspectives to interpret The Human Stain.The frequent occurrence of a series of malignant cases caused by adverse psychological problems has aroused tons of attention in the society.The research in the field of trauma from the perspective of psychology provides theoretical support for the generation and intervention of psychological symptoms after traumatic events.Therefore,how to make timely and effective psychological intervention to avoid tragedy makes the research in the field of trauma and psychology more practical.Then,based on the current research status and social background of this novel,the author of this thesis interprets the manifestation of complex symptoms and archetypes caused by traumatic events and their influence on personal choice from the perspective of analytical psychology.This thesis studies the traumatized groups in The Human Stain based on Jung’s analytical psychology and trauma theory.Firstly,the author of the thesis introduces the research background and significance of the topic,the life of Philip Roth and the general situation of The Human Stain,as well as the literature review at home and abroad.Then based on analytical psychology and trauma theory,the author of this thesis analyzes the female characters Faunia and Delphine and the male characters Coleman and Farley from the two key aspects — the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious respectively.Studies have shown that,to some extent,traumatic events can induce character’s complexes and the appearance of the archetypes.The traumatized groups in the novel are provoked by marriage,family reputation,race,war and other aspects,thus triggering a series of unconscious representations which prompt them to make irrational choices,leading to their tragic fate ultimately.The author of this thesis discusses the traumatic events and the archetypes and complexes triggered by them through perceiving these stimuli of characters’ own psychological symptoms,so that they can understand the influence of these unconscious representations.Then appropriate measures should be taken to intervene autonomously to reduce the negative choices brought by excessive unconscious representation.Ultimately,human beings could get rid of the bondage of complex and take off the persona of hypocrisy so that they can achieve self-value in an integrated,indivisible and harmonious state through the shadows. |
