“Story Arc to Noah’s Ark – Transformation Narratives in Film and Myth”
Stay tuned for possible screening of After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985)!
Saturday, November 14 at 10 AM
via Zoom
Christopher Hauke, IAAP, SAP, JPA, Goldsmiths, London
The ‘night sea journey’ is a theme of descent, of darkness and the minimising of perception. To what end? Whether caught in the belly of a whale (as with Jonah in the Bible or the little guys in Terry Gilliam’s “Time Bandits”) or the bowels of the city at night (as in Scorsese’s “After Hours”), you are stripped of your normal world and thrown into a state of deprivation. You have no idea whether this will last hours or days or, god forbid, for ever. Should I just get used to this? Will I ever get back? Sounds like the Covid pandemic doesn’t it?
In both myth and movie, there is a return. But things are never the same again. The ‘night sea journey’ is more than a transition from one state to another, it involves a transformation of the initial way of life, with all its assumptions, identities, attachments and pitfalls. After the emergence from darkness, all is changed.
Myths – ranging from Hiawatha to Old Testament figures and Gilgamesh – not only offer huge, whole-world versions as journeyed by Noah and his family, but also stories of individual suffering like Jonah’s. Film narrative has its own story arc which parallels the myth in a variety of ways. What they all have in common is how one or more characters are changed for good.
I will consider this theme of transformation from a Jungian point of view and introduce clips from an intriguingly eclectic range of films!
Objectives
After hearing this talk and discussion students will gain:
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An understanding of the myth of the ‘night sea journey’ and versions across different cultures and times
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Knowledge of how archetypes appear in modern narratives as expressed through the moving image.
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Awareness of Jung’s approach to mythology and its relevance for modern times
Christopher Hauke is a Jungian analyst in private practice, and a Senior Lecturer Emeritus at Goldsmiths, University of London. Interested in the applications of depth psychology to a wide range of social and cultural phenomena, his books include Jung and the Postmodern: The Interpretation of Realities, (2000); Human Being Human. Culture and the Soul (2005); Visible Mind. Movies, Modernity and the Unconscious (2013). He has co-edited two collections of film writing: Jung and Film. Post-Jungian Takes on the Moving Image (2001) and Jung and Film II – The Return (2011).
His short films, documentaries One Colour Red and Green Ray and the psychological drama Again premiered in London venues and at congresses in Barcelona, Zurich and Montreal.
As C.C. Hauke, Chris has written five novels which will be published from December 2026 onwards.
$20 for general registration (free for members)
$20 for 1.5 CEUs for counselors (LPC, PLPC) & social workers (LCSW, LMSW)
The C. G. Jung Society of New Orleans has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education provider, ACEP No. 5388. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The C. G. Jung Society of New Orleans is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Most programs are approved for Social Work contact hours through Tulane School of Social Work and for LPC clock hours through the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). The C. G. Jung Sciety of New Orleans has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5388. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The C. G. Jung Society of New Orleans is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.