DISSERTATION

AXIS MUNDI

THE ACADEMIC

This is the pulsing heart of the dissertation: its theoretical scaffold and symbolic spine trace the contours of the Russian Fairy Tale, “The Maiden Tsar”, as an allegory of alchemical union. She weaves together the frameworks of Carl Jung’s archetypes, Luce Irigaray’s feminist critique, Marion Woodman’s mythopoetic vision, and the contemporary feminist and relational turn in scholarship. In this domain, the doctoral candidate maps the symbolic journey of masculine/feminine integration, follows the fairy-tale logic of transformation, and proposes the Maiden Tsar as a living myth for modern relational consciousness. The language is rigorous yet luminous, grounded yet open to alchemical metaphor, echoing the nature of the Maiden herself.

This section houses the dissertation’s inner architecture—definitions, literature review, methodology, analysis, and conclusion—each a beam in the cathedral of theory and myth. It invites the reader into the psyche-palace of the Maiden Tsar, to sit beside her throne, and to witness the dialectic dance of the archetypal and the intimate.

THE PRODUCTION

Here lives the creative retelling. In this section, the Maiden Tsar story emerges not as an artifact to be studied, but as a living myth to be experienced. The allegory becomes narrative; the theoretical becomes poetic. This is where the doctoral candidate steps beyond critique into creation, retelling the tale in her own mythopoetic voice, guided by symbolic precision and soul memory.

This is the embodied performance of the scholarly idea. The feminine and masculine energies no longer reside only in citation or footnote, but encounter one another in plot, image, dialogue, and threshold. The Production may unfold through chapters, scenes, or vignettes, and will be marked by archetypal motifs: the mirror, the pin, the quest, the marriage. While the Academic section explains why, the Production reveals how. Together, they enact the alchemy of scholarship and story.

THE READING LIST

This is a partial reading list drawn from the living bibliography behind The Maiden Tsar: An Allegory for the Alchemy of Relating. These are the thinkers, mystics, depth psychologists, and feminist scholars who stand behind the work—each one a lantern-bearer illuminating the path of this dissertation. Selected for their resonance with core themes such as archetypal embodiment, the alchemy of relating, feminine/masculine integration, and the mythic imagination, they form the intellectual and symbolic constellation around the project.

  • Afanasʹev, A. N., et al. Russian Fairy Tales. Pantheon, 1945.

  • Bacchilega, Cristina. Postmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies. University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc, 2010.

  • Bly, Robert W., and Marion Woodman. Maiden King. Henry Holt & Company, 1998.

  • Eisler, Riane Tennenhaus. The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future. New World Library, 2012.

  • Eisler, Riane. Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body-. HarperOne, 2014.

  • Franz, Marie-Luise Von. Projection and Re-Collection in Jungian Psychology: Reflections of the Soul. Open Court, 1997.

  • Haney, Jack V. V. 1: An Introduction to the Russian Folktale. Taylor and Francis, 2015.

  • Irigaray, Luce, and Carolyn Burke. An Ethics of Sexual Difference. Cornell University Press, 2014.

  • Irigaray, Luce. Sexes and Genealogies. Columbia University Press, 1993.

  • Irigaray, Luce. Speculum of the Other Woman. Cornell Univ. Press, 2010.

  • Jung, and R. F. C. Hull. Psychology and Alchemy. Routledge, 1969.

  • Jung, C. G., et al. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung: Revised and Expanded Complete Digital Edition. Princeton University Press, 2023.

  • Lerner, Gerda. The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-Seventy. Oxford University Press, 2023.

  • Lerner, Gerda. The Creation of Patriarchy. Oxford University Press, 1986.

  • Neumann, Erich, et al. The Origins and History of Consciousness. Princeton University Press, 2020.

  • Samuels, Andrew. Critical Dictionary of Jungian Analysis. Routledge, 2015.

  • Stone, M., & Perrin, J. A. (2024b). When god was a woman. Echo Point Books & Media, LLC. 

  • Von Franz, Marie-Louise. Interpretation of Fairy Tales. Shambhala, 2017.

  • Von Franz, Marie-Louise. The Feminine in Fairy Tales: Revised Edition. Shambhala, 2017.

  • Zipes, Jack. The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre. 2013.

This list is not exhaustive but alive—expanding, shifting, and deepening as the research continues. Each title was chosen not only for its academic relevance but for its archetypal resonance, shaping both the inner and outer landscape of the doctoral journey