Archetypal Literary Theory in the Postmodern Era

Abstract

I propose that differentiating the archetype and the archetypal image provides a means of responding to some postmodern critiques of archetypal theory. I consider the literary theories of Northrop Frye and a postmodern feminist critique of his work.  I hypothesize that a more fully Jungian perspective on archetypal theory provides a means of responding to the critiques levelled at Frye.  This analysis hopes to contribute to positioning archetypal theory in such a manner as to allow it to remain cogent and relevant in light of postmodern critiques, and to do so without marginalizing or ignoring postmodern theoretical insights.