Jung on the dancefloor - discussing The Psychology of Raving
A senior lecturer from Manchester Metropolitan University has discussed what happens in our mind and body - ‘trancing on the dancefloor’ - when we go clubbing.
Social researcher Dr Beate Peter discussed The Psychology of Raving during the latest in a series of LDN Talks organised by Funzing, a London social events aggregator website.
Discussing The Psychology of Raving, Dr Peter said: “It’s quite important we talk about the perceived difference between the body and the mind and I’m trying to convince you that there is no difference really between the body and the mind.
“They interact quite nicely with one another and they inform one another.”
The academic, a Senior Lecturer in German and Programme Leader for BA Languages, Linguistics and TESOL, was also behind the Lapsed Clubber project that compiled and analysed memories of the nightclub scene, particular Manchester’s legendary 1980s and ’90s house music nightspot Hacienda.
Jung’s psyche
Dr Peter, a member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, said: ”I need to hit you with a little bit of theory in order to build up my big argument.
“I’m going to talk about Carl Gustav Jung, who was a psychologist who talked about ‘the psyche’ in a particular way, a unique way I find quite fitting for my research where he distinguishes between the conscious and the unconscious.
“But within the unconscious he talks about the collective unconscious, the stuff that makes us all human.
“I talk about the whole idea of ‘trancing on the dancefloor’ and a few external settings like light, the music and the loudness of the music, and how our mind experiences a sensory overload and electronic dance music is enabling us to trance on the dancefloor.”
