Analytical psychology and aesthetics of reception

possible dialogues

Abstract

This article briefly presents the field of Aesthetics of Reception and highlights the Jung’s writings related to art spectators, in order to establish bases for a dialogue between those texts and that still little-known discipline. The article brings up the particularities of the phenomena involved in the apprehension of works of art, considering, among others, Jungian notions of symbols, art as a compensation and the dynamic between consciousness and the unconscious. To ground the theoretical data, the study also introduces some passages that reveal Jung as a spectator of works of art. Finally, it takes a stand against the recent acts of censorship of contemporary works of art.