Abstract
Jung’s archetypes have been subject to numerous research studies. The trickster is an aspect of the shadow archetype in its negative traits, representing the shadowy sides of flexibility, fluidity, wit and ingenuity. The trickster is viewed as an embodiment of contradictions and dualities and is associated with a force which serves as a balancing agent, challenging convention. The author reflects on the trickster archetype and its implications in the life of Michael Jackson, an American leader in the music industry, who became one of the most famous pop icons in the world, the “King of Pop”. By reflecting on his life development and on selected outstanding events, the author explores the way in which the trickster archetype affected the success and failure of the star. This chapter offers an analysis of the moves of Michael Jackson within the context and expression of the trickster archetype and his appeals to overcome boundaries of race, gender, generation and culture flexibly and fluidly with ingenuity, creativity and positive leadership. In the end, however, it is assumed that the strength and power of the trickster archetype active in this celebrity’s life led to failures and ultimately to his premature death. It is argued that the trickster archetype needs to be recognised, seen, acknowledged and understood in its depth to maintain the success of the leader or to transform leadership stories from those of failure to stories of success.
Such a man knows that whatever is wrong in the world is in himself,
and if he only learns to deal with his own shadow
he has done something real for the world.
He has succeeded in shouldering at least
an infinitesimal part of the gigantic, unsolved social problem of our day…
How can anyone see straight
when he does not even see himself
and the darkness he unconsciously carries
with him into all his dealings.
C.G. Jung
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Notes
- 1.
The Winnebago trickster is a figure represented in the myth of the Winnebago (Siouan people of Wisconsin, USA). This trickster occurs in tales and stories in human or animal form and represents anarchy, disorder and chaos (Velie 1991).
- 2.
Blackface minstrelsy is the white theatrical parody of black dance, music and gesture, a tradition which dominated pop culture throughout the 1800s in the UK and the USA and which parodied race, gender and sexuality (Manning 2014).
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Mayer, CH. (2020). The Success and Failures of Michael Jackson. A Psychobiography Through the Lens of the Trickster Archetype. In: Vanderheiden, E., Mayer, CH. (eds) Mistakes, Errors and Failures across Cultures. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35574-6_23
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