Romantic Philosophies: The Ancient Roots and Modern Directions of the Romance PART 2
© Suzette L. Mako
The Ancient Roots and Modern Directions of the Romance
PART 2/SUITE 101
by Suzette L. Mako
Throughout the ages, however, women kept the faith in their hearts. They nurtured the ideas of love and romance, cherishing the bonds of love between men and women. And they told stories about these precious concepts from generation to generation. It is this verbal tradition that eventually solidified into so-called women's literature.
The Romance genre's special province is to continue to create and share stories, from woman to woman, about the potential for positive unions between women and men. They feature strong characters of strong character, in developing relationships that are based upon mutual respect, shared experience, a balance of energies and genuine affection.
The balance discussed in many romances — be it intellectual, spiritual, physical or of sexual energy — is a topic of great interest to modern philosophers and psychologists. While Romance writers have an innate "feel" for these things, it seems the rest of the world is catching up.
Psychologist Carl Jung delineated a psychology that seems directly related to Romance. He expounded upon the idea that spiritual and emotional needs are equally important, if not more so, than basic biological needs. He discussed principles of equivalence or balance, and of opposites, with masculine and feminine being prime examples. He spoke of transcendent integration and — an idea close to Romance lovers — "Paradoxical Unity," wherein opposites are reconciled into wholeness.
Jung saw the value of ancient philosophical roots, as they were the bases for his "collective unconscious." This represented the subliminal accumulated experiences of man(or woman)kind. Jung recognized that male and female carry a bit of each other within, the "animus" being the male element in women, the "anima" being the feminine facet of man. Key to balance, according to Jung, was the balance and integration of these facets of the human self.
Jung also was able to revere all of the cycles of life, seeing the value in old ages as well as youth and the fullness of maturity. He reached for respect between the ages of humankind and between the sexes.
One might imagine that Romance writers are well educated in Jungian thought. However, it is telling that what a man had to discover through analysis and codification, most women (and most Romance writers, being predominantly women) seem to know instinctively. Rather than a sense of discovery, they feel a resonance and recognition when reading Jung's ideas.
