Dante and the Night Journey
A psychological approach to Dante, based on the Jungian concept of the night journey.
This book is a psychological reading, emphasizing Dante’s universality. The Jungian concept of the “night journey,” the descent into the darkest areas of the self and of human nature, which is the precondition for spiritual growth, informs Dante’s journey through the three realms of the afterlife. Personal testimony about despair and recovery stands side by side with detailed close readings of much-discussed passages.
Dante and the Night Journey articulates a psychological approach to the Commedia, based on the Jungian concept of the descent into the darkest possibilities of the self and of human nature, which is necessary for spiritual progress. Different chapters explore Dante’s growth in the problematic areas of love, anger, and ambition, and draw analogies between his journey through purgatory and contemporary experiences of recovery. The last chapter, “Identity in Paradise,” examines telepathic communication there in the light of Object Relations work on intersubjectivity.
Alan Williamson is the author of numerous books of poetry, literary criticism, and translation. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and teaches in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.
