Document Type : Original Article
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Abstract
Individuation theory of Jung is about the human tendency to resolve the inconsistenciesin his psyche and reach a whole personality. Individuation begins with the human being’s voyage from consciousness to the unconscious. On this voyage, the individual takes off his Persona (the mask he shows of himself to the world) and sets foot in the unconscious realm. In the unconscious, he meets his Shadow (the dark side of himself), Anima (femininity in men), and Animus (masculinity in women), and through the recognition of dark, ambiguous, and clear sides of his psyche, he reaches a whole self. In this study, the story of Al-Ishtiaq il-Jarah, written by Habib Al-Salmi, is read using the theory of individuation and a descriptive-analytical method. The novel narrates Kamal Ashour’s life: He migrated from Tunisia to France in his youth and became a professor of mathematics at the university. Living, working, and marrying in France has created a logical, rigid, and static self-consciousness in his psyche.
His acquaintance with Zahra and her family (who are Tunisian, as he is) helps him escape from this powerful consciousness (French culture), recognize the hidden layers of his unconscious (Tunisian culture), and create a balance between the two in his inner self. First, he removes his mask, his social position as a university professor and the husband of a French lady, and assumes himself to be like other Tunisians. Then he confesses to the existence of the shadow (the unpleasant features of Tunisian culture that he has always hidden) in himself and, after much struggle, realizes that a part of the personality of Mansour (Zahra's violent, sloppy, and uninhibited husband, who is considered a symbol of the shadow) is in himself. Then, in the form of a wise and charming anima character, Zahra shows him the desirable characteristics of Tunisian culture, such as kindness, dynamism, and joy. At the end of this process, Ashour is completely reconciled with his original culture and achieves a unified identity.
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