Mother Archetype

This paper examines the presence and function of Erich Neumann’s concept of the Mother Archetype as a central structure in psychic development, cultural symbolism, and feminine identity formation. Drawing upon Carl Gustav Jung’s theory of archetypes and the collective unconscious, the study explores the dual and ambivalent nature of the maternal figure as both the nurturing “Good Mother” and the destructive “Terrible Mother.” Through a detailed engagement with Neumann’s The Great Mother and his “Great Round” model, the paper analyses how the maternal archetype operates as a dynamic psychic force that shapes dependency, separation, and individuation. The discussion further integrates the contributions of Marie-Louise von Franz, James Hillman, Nancy Chodorow, Adrienne Rich, and other feminist and psychoanalytic thinkers to demonstrate that the mother archetype functions simultaneously on psychological, mythological, cultural, and socio-political levels. While Jungian theory foregrounds the archetype’s symbolic universality, feminist critiques complicate and historicize it by examining how institutionalized motherhood and patriarchal structures reshape maternal meanings. Ultimately, the paper argues that the mother archetype is not a static or purely biological construct but a transformative psychic principle whose polarity—creation and destruction, protection and engulfment—constitutes the very foundation of individuation. By integrating both its light and shadow dimensions, the maternal archetype emerges as an essential framework for understanding feminine subjectivity, identity formation, and the evolving representation of women in literature and culture.