Between Resistance and Rebirth: A Jungian Reading of the Problem of Love in the Book of Jonah Espanhol:

Abstract

Inglês:

The biblical narrative, marked by tensions, ambivalences, and unpredictability, offers a privileged symbolic material for understanding the movements of human consciousness and its search for meaning. Despite the relevance of this field, there remains a gap in research that deeply articulates Analytical Psychology and Biblical Literature, especially in readings of the Book of Jonah as a psychic experience of transformation. This article employs the symbolic-interpretative method proposed by Carl Gustav Jung and further developed by Marie-Louise von Franz, approaching the Book of Jonah through the narrative structure of fairy tales and the archetypal dynamic between ego and Self.

The analysis draws on authors such as Robert Alter, Edward Edinger, and Hans de Wit, combining literary criticism and symbolic psychology to reveal the therapeutic character of the narrative. As a contribution, the research demonstrates that biblical fiction may be understood as “healing fiction,” insofar as it exposes the dilemmas of the inflated ego, resistance to the inner call, and the possibility of psychological rebirth through the integration of divine mercy. The tale of Jonah is thus interpreted as a process of archetypal formation that leads consciousness toward the experience of compassion and the expansion of existential meaning. It is concluded that a symbolic reading of the Book of Jonah offers a fertile path for dialogue between Jungian Psychology and biblical spirituality, contributing both to the academic field and to Jungian clinical practice.