ABSTRACT
The mother archetype, as described by C. G. Jung, appears to know no bounds. The maternal realm is presented in a kaleidoscope of images and passions, framed in all of manner of terms—literal, mythological and abstract—with both benevolent and malevolent properties. In the first place, Jung considers the category of living women with whom a directly maternal relationship is possible. Like Jung, Kristeva is concerned with the status of maternal signification—in both its presence and its absence. Kristeva points to a similar contrast, but polarizes Jung’s duality of nurturing womb and maternal deity more distinctly. In effect Kristeva is asking how we can signify those exchanges which bind infant and mother together in the unique communion. Kristeva in some ways reflects Jung, especially in the way she places the maternal in a subversive dialectical relationship between individual and collective expression. Kristeva provides an analysis of the status of maternal discourse through her study of Western painting.
