DISSERTATIONS - 2016

DIALOGUES OF ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY: SPIRITUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES

Luiz Fernando Gomes Corazza

Advisor: Profa. Dra. Liliana Liviano Wahba
Key words: spirituality, contemporaneity, Analytical Psychology, Jung.

Abstract: This was a qualitative research aimed at exploring the perception of religious leaders of different creeds on spirituality in contemporary society, from the perspective of Carl Gustav Jung’s Analytical Psychology. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. The analysis began by reading each of the transcribed interviews in order to identify general impressions and considerations. After the first reading, the interpretation method was the Thematic Analysis described by Ezzy (2001). The main themes identified were: Attributes of spirituality, Religion, Human Condition and spirituality, Values in contemporary spirituality and The Divine, each containing different categories. Then, categories and themes were examined, revealing four thematic axes which condense the narrative and express the common aspects of the testimonies: 1. Spirituality is an expression of the search for meaning and involves notions of freedom, consciousness, responsibility and critical reasoning concerning the most immediate context, as well as the notion of transcendence; 2. Spirituality contributes to the rooting of the human being in the world, thus revealing human qualities; 3. Spirituality is linked to religion, but it is not solely attached to institutions; 4. There is a paradox between permanence and change. Finally, the main idea was identified from the inter-relation of the themes. The method enabled the extraction of the central idea as a summary that, at the same time, represents the testimonies and constitutes the theory underlying them. Therefore, it can be concluded that, for the respondents, the dimension of spirituality would be complementary and compensatory in relation to material dimension, although it is also contained in the latter. Simultaneously forming and outlined by culture, spirituality encompasses elements which are in opposition to what is immediately cognizable, perceptible and sensorial, thus contributing to the development and enrichment of existence. Understood as a function of the psyche, of a symbolic nature, it is not restricted to religious signs and institutions, since the transcendent and transcendence, as well as the fascination and inspiration of the search for meaning would exceed the limits of the institutions.