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Mental God-representation reconsidered: Probing collective representation of cultural symbol

Mental God-representation reconsidered: Probing collective representation of cultural symbol Mental God-representation reconsidered: Probing collective representation of cultural symbol BY SOO-YOUNG KWON Abstracts The current methods in psychoanalytic studies of God images and representations have fo- cused almost exclusively on individual, internal processes. This article examines how psycholog- ical anthropologists go about formulating symbolic representations of deity in their research, in comparison with the object relations method of God-representations. Drawing on Melford Spiro's integrative proposal for interpreting the mental and collective representations in religious symbol systems, this paper proposes that there is a need for a comprehensive model of the rep- resentational process in the Eastern world in order to suit its cultural traditions. The author uses both theoretical and historical materials as well as personal narrative throughout its entirety to balance the two in a mutual and coherent flow of understanding. Noting the culturally patterned interactions with culturally postulated God-symbols, the object relations method of God-repre- sentations will be utilized to probe how God is both created and found on a collective (cultural) level as well as individual level. Within the corpus of literature emerging on the subject of psychoanalytically informed investigations of religion, one theme appears to predominate - the in- dividual's private representation of God http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archive for the Psychology of Religion Brill

Mental God-representation reconsidered: Probing collective representation of cultural symbol

Kwon, Soo-Young
Archive for the Psychology of Religion , Volume 25 (1): 113 – Jan 1, 2003
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References (29)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2003 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0084-6724
eISSN
1573-6121
DOI
10.1163/157361203X00084
Publisher site
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Abstract

Mental God-representation reconsidered: Probing collective representation of cultural symbol BY SOO-YOUNG KWON Abstracts The current methods in psychoanalytic studies of God images and representations have fo- cused almost exclusively on individual, internal processes. This article examines how psycholog- ical anthropologists go about formulating symbolic representations of deity in their research, in comparison with the object relations method of God-representations. Drawing on Melford Spiro's integrative proposal for interpreting the mental and collective representations in religious symbol systems, this paper proposes that there is a need for a comprehensive model of the rep- resentational process in the Eastern world in order to suit its cultural traditions. The author uses both theoretical and historical materials as well as personal narrative throughout its entirety to balance the two in a mutual and coherent flow of understanding. Noting the culturally patterned interactions with culturally postulated God-symbols, the object relations method of God-repre- sentations will be utilized to probe how God is both created and found on a collective (cultural) level as well as individual level. Within the corpus of literature emerging on the subject of psychoanalytically informed investigations of religion, one theme appears to predominate - the in- dividual's private representation of God

Journal

Archive for the Psychology of Religion – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2003

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