Violent Devotion and Depth Psychology

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13824085
AutoresAlastair R McGlashan (Pastoral Theology, Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, Madurai, India, autor de correspondencia)
Año2010
Volumen32
Número3
Páginas249-276
Fecha de publicación2010-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaArchive for the Psychology of Religion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0084-6724 • E-ISSN: 1573-6121
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1163/157361210x533256
OpenAlexW1978843473
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas11

The purpose of this article is to test how far the concepts of depth psychology can be used to further understanding of religiously motivated acts of violence that occurred in another age and another cultural environment. The particular behaviour studied is the violence exhibited in the lives of the Tamil Saiva saints of Southern India who lived in the sixth to eighth centuries CE. The relevant historical evidence is the account of their lives recorded in the hagiographical epic known as the Periya Purānam of Cēkkilār (fl. 1133-1150 CE). The term “depth psychology” is here taken to denote both the psycho-analytic theories of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein and their successors, and the analytical psychology of the Jungian school. It will be shown that in spite of the methodological difficulties, psychological concepts drawn from these sources can be used to throw light on the religiously motivated behaviour here considered

Analytical psychology · Art · Cultural psychology · Depth psychology · EPIC · Literature · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Tamil · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology