C. G. Jung on plagiarism in Pierre Benoît's L'Atlantide. Issue 3 (2nd September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fike, Matthew A.
• Is Part Of: International journal of Jungian studies. Volume 9:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 167
• Page End: 182
• Publication Date: 2017-09-02
• Subjects: Jung -- Haggard -- Benoît -- She -- L'Atlantide -- plagiarism; Jungian psychology -- Periodicals; Psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Jungian psychology; Psychotherapy; Periodicals; 150.195405
• DOI: 10.1080/19409052.2017.1355331
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1940-9060

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Jung explained the possible plagiaristic relationship between Henry Rider Haggard's She and Pierre Benoît's L'Atlantide as either cryptomnesia or archetypal inspiration, but he was misinformed about the case and unfamiliar with Benoît's life. This essay critiques Jung's statements about Benoît and then considers the case for plagiarism that was published in The French Quarterly in 1919–1920. Neither the typical reply – that L'Atlantide reflects the author's African experience and historical knowledge – nor the reading of the novel that arose from Jung's 1925 seminar adequately refutes the plagiarism charge. A depth-psychological reading of L'Atlantide shows the danger of seeking the anima archetype itself rather than experiencing the anima in a relationship with an available woman. But even if literary analogies, including the Circe myth, suggest that Haggard and Benoît may have tapped into the same archetypal vein, the novels' similarities and verbal echoes cannot be dismissed outright.