1st Edition
Music as Image Analytical psychology and music in film
Through a theoretical and practical exploration of Jungian and post-Jungian concepts surrounding image, this book moves beyond the visual scope of imagery to consider the presence and expression of music and sound, as well as how the psyche encounters expanded images – archetypal, personal or cultural – on both conscious and unconscious levels. By closely examining music in film, Nagari considers music’s complementary, enhancing, meaningful, and sometimes disruptive, contribution to expressive images.
Chapters present a Jungian approach to music in film, highlighting how ‘music-image’ functions both independently and in conjunction with the visual image, and suggesting further directions in areas of research including music therapy and autism. Divided into three cumulative parts, Part I explores the Jungian psychological account of the music-image; Part II combines theory with practice in analysing how the auditory image works with the visual to create the ‘film as a whole’ experience; and Part III implements a specific understanding of three individual film cases of different genres, eras and styles as psychologically scrutinised ‘case histories’.
Music as Image will be of interest to academics and students in the fields of applied psychoanalysis and Jungian psychology, music, film and cultural studies. With implications for music therapy and other art-based therapies, it will also be relevant for practising psychotherapists.
Part 1: The Psychological Image: Imaging and imagination - a Jungian perspective Jung, Image, Archetype and Complex. Jung, Opposites and Psychic Energy. Jung’s Psychological Types. Jung, Sign and Symbol. Image, Imagery, Imagination: A perspective of placement. The Autonomous Ways of Images: Dreams and synaesthesia. Conclusion: The non-visual image Part 2: Music as Image: The encounter of visual and non visual in film Music as Image: An emotive introduction. Music as Image: Its placement in film. Music as Image: Its realities and functions. Psychological Dimensions of the Film-Music Functions. Film Music: Type, style, original and non-original music. Film, Music, Archetype. When Image Turns Hero. Conclusion: The music-image – inside and outside film. Part 3: Close Encounters of the Musical Kind: An analysis of the music-image in three films Taxi Driver. Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog). Eyes Wide Shut. Finale (Conclusion).
Biography
Benjamin Nagari gained a PhD in Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies from the University of Westminster, UK. He is also a prolific musician and composer; having started in Pop and Rock music he went on to composing for stage, radio and television, followed by film scores and concert music (symphonic, chamber, vocal and choral).
