Contemporary Solitude: The Joy and Pain of Being Alone

This text by Jungian analyst Wieland-Burston explores the powerful contradictory facets of our need and fear of solitude. Solitude can be a nourishment, and a hunger – we need it, and suffer from it and seek and avoid it at different times in our lives. Concepts of personal existential solitude are examined through a theoretical and historical framework – from biblical references of Jesus going into the wilderness through to the heroic solitude of the romantic movement, from Nietzsche’s Superman standing alone to the modern urban experience of the collapse of community and the fracturing of the traditional family unit – the author illustrates the search and retreat into solitude with case histories to show that while we need to be comfortable in being alone, it is equally important to understand that by using solitude as a block to relating, we may block the process of development. Psychologists, students and cognitive scientists may find this of value.