Aron, E. N. (1995). A
Cultural-Historical Exploration of the Archetype of Delicate Small and
Forceful Big (Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate
Institute, 1995). UMI no. 3002380.
This dissertation attempts a therapeutics of culture by exploring
hermeneutically the archetypal relationship between delicate small (DS)
and forceful big (FB)--that is, the relationship of unequal power in
which the more powerful exploits the other's energy and curtails daily
freedoms, never intending equality to result.
First, the
archetype is discussed generally. Its treatment as semi-abstract and
relational is defended, and identification with the archetype is said to
produce at least five states of mind: absorption in FB, awakening to
being a victim, fascination with the relationship, becoming FB, and
neither/nor.
Second, the nature of a depth psychological
cultural-historical frame is described--an approach to history
emphasizing what is most denied yet begs to be heard--and then that
frame is provided. One area of history that seems to have been
assiduously ignored is what is called prehistory, with its remarkable
peace. Also denied is the traumatic change at the end of the Neolithic
period when incursions of horse-riding nomads brought warfare, kingship,
and slavery to pastoral, agrarian societies. Instead there is the ironic
glorification of this period as the dawn of civilization--with
civilization defined by the spread of barbarism arising from the nomad's
dedication to expansion (as compared to the Neolithic agriculturists'
acceptance of limits). To turn this irony further on its head, expansion
was and is joyous, another point often denied. However, it required for
the first time in human experience the exploitation of another being,
the horse, creating the first DS/FB relationship.
Third, three
collectively repressed examples of DS are considered--the horse, the
person born with a highly sensitive nervous system, and the archetype of
the little girl. In the process, diverse texts are explored: a standard
college history textbook, archeological theories, a Vedic Upanishad, two
novels, psychological research articles, a Greek tragedy, a dream, and a
folktale, as well as occasional transferential material which arose
during the work and provided additional insights.
