Death in Persia
the Symbolic in Suffering, Death, and Suicide in the Work of Annemarie Schwarzenbach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21901/2448-3060/self-2025.vol-10.242Keywords:
Psychic pain, suicide, imagination, Jungian psychologyAbstract
This article offers a symbolic reading of “Death in Persia”, by Annemarie Schwarzenbach, grounded in James Hillman's archetypal psychology. Through a close analysis of selected passages, the study explores how suffering, death, and suicide can be understood as expressions of a soul in transit. Psychology here is summoned not to interpret or correct suffering, but to listen to it in its imaginal language. Schwarzenbach’s narrative is read as a poetic testimony of descent into the unconscious and confrontation with the dark forces of the psyche, where figures such as the Angel and the nameless fear represent archetypal experiences of transformation. The paper concludes by reflecting on the analyst’s role in the face of suicide, suggesting that their task is to sustain—without judgment—the symbolic weight of the soul’s images.
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References
Hillman, J. (2010). Re-vendo a psicologia. Vozes. (Trabalho original publicado em 1975).
Hillman, J. (2011). Suicídio e alma. Vozes. (Trabalho original publicado em 1993).
Hillman, J. (2013). O sonho e o mundo das trevas. Vozes. (Trabalho original publicado em 1979).
Hillman, J. (2021). Inhuman relations (Uniform Editions, Vol. 7). Spring Publications.
Hillman, J. (2024). On melancholy and depression (Uniform Edition, Vol. 11). Spring Publications.
Martin, R. (2008). Annemarie Schwarzenbach: a biography. Northwestern University Press.
Schwarzenbach, A. (2008). Morte na Pérsia. Tinta da China. (Manuscrito original de [1936]).
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