‘Forever young’: The eternal child archetype in the post-apocalyptic world of Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story (2010)

Abstract

Using Jungian psychologist Marie-Louise von Franz’s The Problem of the Puer Aeternus (2000) as a theoretical framework, the present article discusses the characters and the apocalyptic world of Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story (2010) through the perspective of the archetype of the eternal child. The discussion focuses on the main characters’ quest for immortality, the visibility of the individual among the masses, and the dangers of a cold, detached Weltanschauung in contemporary society, additionally foregrounding interpretations of character behaviours, such as their infantile reactions to events and their relationships, which are presented in relation to the respective Jungian archetype.