Excerpt
‘It
was in 1909 that Carl Jung first commented on the 'magical' influence
parents have over their children. This he ascribed not to the child's
helplessness or particular personality, but to parental archetypes in
the child's psyche. Whether or not such archetypes are embedded there,
it's clear that no parent has the luxury of a clean sheet against which
to operate. Whatever any father does is measured against images which
simultaneously amplify and dwarf the process of human fathering. 'When
we relate to the father, we relate also to our expectation of him,' writes
political & psychological theorist Andrew Samuels. 'He's strong or
weak, castrating or facilitating, depending on how he does or does not
fit in with the expectation.'
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