The Phenomenon of the Archetypal in the Study of Musical Texts

- · 13.01.2026

Original article
DOI: 10.56620/2227-9997-2025-4-98-119

Vera V. Sadokova

Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, Moscow, Russia,
vsadok@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3278-4121
Abstract:The work presents the development of interdisciplinary research approach to analyzing the deep structure of musical text. Its core is the Jungian concept of “archetype”. Based on the fundamental works of the Swiss psychoanalyst (“Psychology and Alchemy”, “Mysterium Coniunctionis. The Mystery of Reunion”, “God and the Unconscious”, “Man and His Symbols”, “Memories, Dreams, and Reflections”, and many others), the essential characteristics of the archetype are identified that are fundamental for the study of musical texts. The fundamental difference of this work is the use of the concept, as a rule, applied outside the concept of the unconscious, in its original mental semantic field. The article identifies four substantive aspects that can serve as a metaphorical beacon in the analysis of the archetypal in the musical fabric: the structural and functional characteristics of the archetype, its psychoemotional degree of perception, as well as the connection with the substantive dominants of the phenomenon of ritual.

Keywords: archetypes, collective unconscious, C. G. Jung, structural-functional approach, the numinous, ritual, and musical text

For citation: Sadokova V. V. The Phenomenon of the Archetypal in the Study of Musical Texts Scholarly papers of Gnesin Russian Aca­demy of Music. 2025;(4):98-119. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.56620/2227-9997-2025-4-98-119
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