The Father

Countless children throughout the world grow up without fathers. In this revised and updated edition of The Father, accompanied by a new preface, Luigi Zoja studies the reasons for this and assesses the contribution of this phenomenon to social and psychological problems. Using examples from classical antiquity to the present day, Zoja views the origins and evolution of the father from a Jungian perspective. He argues that the father's role in bringing up children is a social construction that has been subject to change throughout history, and goes on to examine the consequences and consider the crisis facing fatherhood today. No other existing book faces the subject of fatherhood from such a broad and multidisciplinary perspective. Covering these issues from historical, sociological and psychological points of view, this revised edition of The Father includes a complete reworking of the final part of the book, focusing on the condition of the father in today's globalized world, and with a particular look at the role historical trauma and grief play in family relationships. The book will be of special interest to analytical psychologists and Jungian psychotherapists in practice and in training, academics and students of Jungian and post-Jungian studies, sociology, anthropology, gender studies, and history.

Luigi Zoja is an analytical psychologist in private practice in Milan who lectures internationally. He is a former training analyst of the C. G. Jung Institut, Zurich, past president of CIPA (Centro Italiano di Psicologia Analitica) and former president of IAAP (International Association of Analytical Psychology). He has taught at the University of Insubria and at Beijing Normal University. The previous edition of The Father received the Gradiva Award in the USA and the Premio Palmi in Italy and has appeared in 12 languages.

Contents List of figures Acknowledgments Permissions Preface to the new edition Introduction PART I Prehistory 1 The mammals: the animals' retreat from fatherhood 2 The sexuality of the great apes 3 The prehistoric horizon of the father 4 The paternal revolution 5 Lucy grows PART II Myth and the classical age 6 Patriarchy and matriarchy 7 The historic horizon of the father 8 The mythic origins of the father 9 Hector 10 Ulysses 11 The myth of the father as the sole progenitor 12 Aeneas PART III Towards modern times and decadence 13 From the Roman father, to the Son, to the French Revolution 14 From the French Revolution to the Industrial Revolution 15 The disenchantment of war 16 The reversal of the public father 17 The voyage of the Joads PART IV The father today 18 The rarefaction of the father 19 The abdication of the father: in flight toward the past 20 The abdication of the father: in flight toward the future 21 The disappearance of elevation 22 The breadwinner 23 The search for the father PART V A final reflection 24 A final reflection References Index