THE word ‘archetype’ has been around for centuries.
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, is attempting to trademark the word for her new podcast on Spotify. Find out here what it means.
What does archetype mean?
The word archetype first entered the English language around the 1540s and has Latin and Greek origins.
It often means a classic, stereotype character from old stories and myths that have been passed down over the years.
Example of these can be a hero, villain or lover.
Psychologist Carl Jung theorized the word, saying: “There are forms or images of a collective nature which occur practically all over the earth as constituents of myths and at the same time, as individual products of unconscious.”
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Why has Meghan Markle tried to trademark ‘archetypes’?
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, hopes to trademark the centuries old English word “archetypes”, as she plans on using it for the name of her first round of podcasts on Spotify.
Archewell Audio is one of the companies established by Prince Harry and Meghan, which they made the application for exclusive use of the word at the US Patent and Trademark Office last month (March 2022).
However, Meghan could face some challenges as a lot of other companies already use the word archetypes.
Archetypes is set to launch this summer, hosted by Meghan who will be speaking to experts, historians and women who have experienced being typecast.
In a trailer for the new project, the duchess says: “This is how we talk about women: the words that raise our girls, and how the media reflects women back to us. But where do these stereotypes come from? And how do they keep showing up and defining our lives?”
“Archetypes – the podcast where we dissect, explore and subvert the labels that try to hold women back”, she continues.
“I’ll have conversations with women who know all too well how these typecasts shape our narratives. And I’ll talk to historians to understand how we even got here in the first place.”
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It will be 18 months since she and Harry agreed a lucrative deal with Spotify that is said to be worth £18 million.
So far they have only released on show – a holiday special featuring their son Archie and celebrity guests.
