The Shadow of the Neutral Mask: A Jungian Examination of Lecoq-based Neutral Mask Praxis

Abstract

“Psychology” functions as the largest taboo within the renowned pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq; or, in Jungian terms, ‘psychology’ itself becomes the unconscious shadow within Lecoq’s teaching. Carl Jung defines the shadow as: “the thing a person has no wish to be” (Jung, 1966, p. 262). And yet, as with all aspects of the shadow, those elements are indeed a part of the individual (or in this case the pedagogy). This paper will argue that the teaching of Lecoq is indeed highly psychological, drawing comparisons between the theories of Lecoq and Jung, examining a connection between Jung’s theory of a collective unconscious and Lecoq’s understanding of a “universal poetic sense”; exploring their view of the Self, and outlining the movement from general to particular which is the key to both Jung’s understanding of the individuation process as well as Lecoq’s progression through an extended series of masks. Highlighting the work of contemporary teachers like Thomas Prattki, I offer a (re)evaluation of neutral mask praxis, a journey into the landscape of an unconscious psyche, and an encounter with an archetypal image of Self.