The Process of Individuation of Hom?y in the Story of Hom?y o Hom?yun Based on Jungian Individuation Theory

Nowadays, “archetypal criticism” or “mythical criticism” is one of the most important and the most widely used methods of contemporary literary criticism which studies the nature and characteristics of archetypes and their roles in literature. Mythical criticism has originated in Jung's thoughts and generally, it is done by referring to his ideas. Based on the Jungian individuation theory, the present article tries to study the romance of Homāy o Homāyun by Khāju Kermāni. In this story, Homāy, the hero begins his journey to China to reach Homāyun (anima). The journey of the hero to China, as the base of the story, is a symbol of process of individuation and of his search for self-knowledge. By activation of anima and announcing the message of continuity and unity in the hero's conscious realm, the process of individuation of Homāy who is a young and inexperienced prince begins, and by guidance of the wise old man and eliminating difficulties and shadows and flexibility of persona, his conscious and unconscious are coordinated and finally, the process of individuation and self-knowledge achieves successfully.