The motivational mind of Magneto: towards Jungian discourse analysis

Seerattan-Waldrom, Jacquelyn (2016) The motivational mind of Magneto: towards Jungian discourse analysis. Manchester Metropolitan University. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Discourse analysis has been a prominent area of psychology for 25 years. It traditionally focuses on society’s influence on the world through the rhetoric (implicit persuasion) and symbolism, dealing with important psychological areas such as ‘identity’ and many social justice issues. Graphic novel analyses is also increasingly more common. Social justice issues are especially prominent in analysis: particularly in X- Men, through metaphors of ‘oppression’, ‘sexuality and identity’ (Zullo, 2015). Psycho-discursive analysis focuses on the 'subject' neglected in traditional discourse analysis, which has been provided recent attention. A Freudian and Jungian psycho-discursive analysis of DC comic character, 'Batman' has been studied regarding motivation and psyche (Langley, 2012). However, ‘reflexivity’ in Freudian psycho-discursive analysis is a known problem that previous psycho-discursive analyses have been unable to tackle effectively. Therefore, this study proposed a step towards Jungian psycho-discursive analysis adapted from personality and motivation theory, ‘Psychological Types’ (1971) and theoretical expansions by Myers and Myers (1995). It was applied to fictional representations of psyche within the X-Men comic character, ‘Magneto’, due to fictional inspirations which commonly form Jungian theory. Magneto was interpreted as the type, ‘INTJ’, and future implications of further applications to psyche are discussed.