The mythologising of lost and abandoned children significantly influences Australian storytelling. This presentation looks at the concept of the ‘lost child’ from a psychological and cultural perspective. Taking an interdisciplinary Jungian approach, Terrie re-evaluates this cyclic storytelling motif in history and on the screen, as the nucleus of a cultural complex – a group obsession that as Jung argued of all complexes, has us. The research aims to look beyond the melancholy traditionally ascribed to the lost child, by arguing that the repetitive and prolific imagery that this theme stimulates, can be positive and inspiring.
‘The lost child’ in its many manifestations, can be understood as an element of the individual and collective psyche, historically related to the trauma of colonisation and war, and a key theme in Australian cinema from the industry’s formative years to the present day. The films that will be touched on in this seminar transcend literal lost in the bush mythologies, or actual cases of displaced children. The focus is more directed to vulnerable characters rendered lost, rather than orphaned, through government/institutional practices, problematic parenting and adult/parental individuals developmentally arrested by comforting or traumatic childhood memories. The victory/winning fixation governing the USA – diametrically opposed to the lost child motif – will also be discussed as a comparative example of the cultural complex.
Dr Terrie Waddell is Adjunct Associate Professor of Creative Arts and English, La Trobe University. Her research focuses on the relationship between screen media, literature, gender, popular culture and psychology. She has authored The Lost Child in Australian Film: Jung, Story and Playing Beneath the Past (Routledge 2019), Wild/lives: Trickster, Place and Liminality on Screen (Routledge 2010), Mis/takes: Archetype, Myth and Identity in Screen Fiction (Routledge 2006). Editing includes The International Handbook of Jungian Film Studies (section editor ‘Transnational Cinema’, Routledge 2018) and Eavesdropping: The Psychotherapist in Film and Television (co-editor Routledge 2015). Terrie is the co-founder of PAMII – Psychology and the Moving Image International.
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Date: 10th September 2021 at 7.00
Venue: Zoom
Cost: Members $10 Non-Members $20 Non-Member
Concession $15
*Psychotherapists and other practitioners can obtain credit for Professional Development hours recognised by PACFA and ACA for this presentation.