How Can the Thought of the Heart Offer Effective Ways of Engaging with Conflict?
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How can the thought of the heart offer effective ways of engaging with conflict? An imaginal and reflexive study By Louise Claire Livingstone Canterbury Christ Church University Thesis submitted For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 i DEDICATION For Jay, Kirsten and for Hearts, everywhere © Livingstone, 2015 ii Imagine that the heart is trying to speak to us; how would we understand its language and receive its message? How might we cultivate the ears to hear the heart’s voice, and focus the eyes to see the heart in its authenticity?1 1 Words from my personal journal – August 2016 iii Contents List of figures.........................................................................................................................x Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................xi Abstract ................................................................................................................................. 1 Prologue ................................................................................................................................ 3 A note regarding structure ................................................................................................ 3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 4 Introducing the project ...................................................................................................... 4 Experiencing an-‘other’ heart ...................................................................................... 10 Engaging meaningfully with my experience: different ways of seeing ....................... 13 What is the heart? ........................................................................................................... 19 Holistic heart: illuminating conflict? ............................................................................ 21 The conflicted heart in modern discourse ................................................................... 23 Defining the imaginal ....................................................................................................... 25 Symbol and metaphor .................................................................................................. 29 Relating these metaphors to contemporary approaches to knowledge ..................... 31 A request to the reader ................................................................................................... 32 Research questions .......................................................................................................... 33 Importance of research ................................................................................................... 33 Literature review .............................................................................................................. 35 Main sources ................................................................................................................ 35 Conflict resolution and the heart ................................................................................. 36 The heart: a brief overview .......................................................................................... 38 Religious mysticism & esoteric philosophy .................................................................. 41 Holistic science ............................................................................................................. 42 Cultural history ............................................................................................................. 43 Transformative learning ............................................................................................... 44 Approach (methodology) ................................................................................................. 46 Robert Romanyshyn’s imaginal approach ................................................................... 46 Romanyshyn’s methodology set in a wider context .................................................... 50 A brief commentary on Romanyshyn’s work in a wider turn towards knowing in other fields ............................................................................................................................. 57 iv Rosemarie Anderson’s intuitive enquiry ...................................................................... 61 Reflections on Romanyshyn and Anderson ................................................................. 61 Reflexivity ..................................................................................................................... 62 The image/symbol of the heart.................................................................................... 63 Auto/biographical narrative, personal narrative ......................................................... 64 Ethics ............................................................................................................................ 65 Methodological considerations .................................................................................... 66 Concluding thoughts .................................................................................................... 67 Chapter one: What is conflict? ........................................................................................... 68 Transference dialogue – June 2017 ................................................................................. 68 Reflections ....................................................................................................................... 72 Towards engaging with conflict ................................................................................... 73 Inviting my heart to engage with conflict .................................................................... 77 Conflict: a definition......................................................................................................... 78 The conflict literature & making sense of “that Night” ................................................... 80 Conflict as a positive force ........................................................................................... 83 The heart in modern conflict research ......................................................................... 84 Conflict: a Jungian perspective ........................................................................................ 86 Conflict: an archetypal perspective ................................................................................. 89 Conflict: mystical/esoteric interpretations ...................................................................... 92 Conflict: Sufi and Buddhist perspectives ......................................................................... 95 Concluding thoughts ........................................................................................................ 97 Chapter two: The story of the heart and contemplations on the body/mind, heart/head relation .............................................................................................................................. 101 Transference dialogue – February 2018 ........................................................................ 101 Reflections ..................................................................................................................... 103 The heart: etymology ..................................................................................................... 106 A brief history of the heart ............................................................................................ 108 The esoteric heart ...................................................................................................... 110 The religious heart ..................................................................................................... 112 The emergence of the modern heart of science ........................................................ 114 Science facts about the heart..................................................................................... 115 Heart transplantation ................................................................................................. 116 The heart/head reconnection in medical science ...................................................... 118 v The metaphoric heart ................................................................................................ 120 The dark heart ............................................................................................................ 121 Contemplating living conflict: heart/mind, body/mind ................................................. 122 Concluding thoughts ...................................................................................................... 130 Chapter three: The pumping heart of science ................................................................. 133 Dream – September 2017 .............................................................................................. 133 Journal entry – October 2017 ........................................................................................ 133 Reflections ..................................................................................................................... 135 The pumping heart ........................................................................................................ 138 Reflections