Perpetual Adolescence
eBook - PDF

Perpetual Adolescence

Jungian Analyses of American Media, Literature, and Pop Culture

  1. 238 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Perpetual Adolescence

Jungian Analyses of American Media, Literature, and Pop Culture

About this book

Explores the arrested development of American culture.

Arguing that American culture appeals to and is populated by children and adolescents who merely appear to be adult men and women, the essays in Perpetual Adolescence examine the Jungian archetype of the "eternal youth"-the puer aeternus-as it is manifested in the arrested development of American culture. From the infantilization of the American psyche and the lionization of teenaged celebrities and bodies, to fanatical conformity, and puerile entertainment, the contributors probe the various ways that American television, music, film, print, Internet, education, and social movements work to nourish and sustain this child archetype. Offering analytic psychology as an instrument of social analysis and critique, they point to the need for dialogue over the causes and effects of our puer-fixations, which have become, in large part, both a creation and a creator of the American zeitgeist.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Perpetual Adolescence by Sally Porterfield, Keith Polette, Tita French Baumlin, Sally Porterfield,Keith Polette,Tita French Baumlin in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Movements in Psychology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Perpetual Adolescence
  2. Contents
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Introduction to the Puer/Puella Archetype
  5. Culture on the Couch: Western Civilization’s Journey from Crisis to Maturity
  6. Puer and Hellmouth: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and American Myth
  7. Puer in Nature: The Monster and the Grizzly Man
  8. Grounding Icarus: Puer Aeternus and the Suicidal Urge
  9. The Puer as American Hero
  10. Shaken, Not Stirred: James Bond and the Puer Archetype
  11. A Crown Must Be Earned Every Day: Seeking the Mature Masculine in High Art and Pop Culture
  12. ā€œProtracted Adolescenceā€: Reflections on Forces Informing the American Collective
  13. Senex and Puer in the Classroom: A Conflict of Consciousness in Education
  14. Insanity by the Numbers,Knowings from the Ground: Outgrowing and Outloving the Cult of Quantification
  15. The Marriage of the Puer Aeternusand Trickster Archetypes: Psychological Rebirth for the Puer Personality
  16. Little Girl Lost: Sylvia Plath and the Puella Aeterna
  17. Provincials in Time: The Provisional Life
  18. List of Contributors
  19. Index