Gilbert Durand, science et expérience de l'imagination symbolique = Gilbert Durand, science and experience of symbolic imagination

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the continuing debate over the relevance of Gilbert Durand's thought, who devoted his dissertation to the structures of the imaginary, both mental and materialized in plastic or literary works. In the 1960s Durand sought to rationalize the imagination of the symbols and myths of humanity to find logic in them despite all cultural variations. Through the analysis of Durand's works such as Les Structures anthropologiques de l'imaginaire (1960), L'Imagination symbolique (1964) and L'imaginaire (1994), the author explains how Durand's thought is inscribed in three different traditions : the theological-mystical tradition (i); the psychotherapeutic, Freudian and above all Jungian tradition (ii); and the philosophical tradition of hermeneutics (iii).