Sigmund Freud and Lou Andreas-Salomé Letters

by Sigmund Freud, Ernst Pfeiffer

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Unfinished, Psychoanalysis

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Dr. Sigismund Freud (later changed to Sigmund) was a neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential—and controversial—minds of the 20th century.

In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885, Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up in private practice, specialising in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.

Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work 'The Interpretation of Dreams' was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.

In 1902, Freud was appointed Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories.

After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published 'The Ego and the Id', which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'.

In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freud's books. In 1938, shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna.

Freud had been diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23 September 1939.

Reviews

[Emily Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably only the serious Freudian devotees will get into this book but there are some pretty interesting tidbits even for the reader who isn't a psychoanalyst. First, that Freud makes jokes in his letters. I wasn't expecting that. Second, that he treated Andreas-Salome as an equal - as a friend and colleague. Third, I found it positively hilarious how they discussed articles like Andreas-Salome's "The anal and the sexual" so dispassionately. The long treatises on psychoanalysis weren't terribly compelling for me but probably some people dig that stuff.
One thing that stuck out for me from one of Lou Andreas Salome's letters and also broke my heart:

"I shrink from publishing books which are the product of imagination (of which I already have eight in our bank safe - to the disappointment of our present-day marauders who would reckon on finding jewels there!) - and this from pure lack of ambition (a great lack, but one which must be allowed to us womenfolk, for why should we bother with ambition?)"

This is from a woman who was Rilke's lover, was loved by Nietzche, a number of other philosophers and a great friend of Freud. She's clearly brilliant and wrote EIGHT books, none of which are available to read. Maybe they were terrible. But I doubt it. But even if they were, because she was a woman, she never had the opportunity to learn and fail and get better. Rilke is pretty uninspiring in his early years, too - but he got all kinds of help and encouragement from people like Andreas-Salome.
And in so many fields this sort of unbalanced scale continues. The male theatre directors who started when I did have largely all found a measure of success, the female ones are mostly continuing to labor in the same ghettos. Sure, not all their work is amazing. Not all my work is amazing. But neither was the work of those male directors in the beginning. This quote from Andreas-Salome highlights for me how what I long for most for female artists is the opportunity to fail and fail with support and encouragement so that they can go on and publish those eight books locked in a bank safe.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is difficult to imagine who would like this as much as I did.

[Maher Razouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

العزيزه لو

باستدراكك الحاد المعتاد، ربما تكوني قد خمنت سبب تأخري في الرد على رسالتك. أخبرتك ابنتي آنّا بالفعل أنني أعمل على شيء ما، واليوم كتبت الجملة الأخيرة وأنهيت العمل. يتناول العمل : المدنية، والشعور بالذنب، والسعادة، ومواضيع رفيعة مماثلة، ويبدو لي، وبلا شك، أنه فائض عن الحاجة - على عكس الأعمال السابقة التي نشأت دائمًا من ضرورة داخلية ما. ولكن ماذا يمكنني أن أفعل بخلاف ذلك؟ لا يمكن للمرء أن يدخن ويلعب الورق طوال اليوم، ولم يعد لدي القدرة على المشي بشكل جيد، ومعظم ما يوجد للقراءة لم يعد يهمني. لذا كتبت، وبهذه الطريقة مر الوقت بسرور تام. أثناء كتابتي لهذا العمل، اكتشفت من جديد بعض الحقائق الأكثر تفاهة!!

من #سيغموند_فرويد إلى #لو_سالومي

[محمد جلال · Rating 4 out of 5]

شكراً للأستاذ ماهر على هذه الترجمة التي عرفتنا أكثر عن قرب بفروبد وسالومي، ولعل هذه الرسائل تفتح باب الأمل نحو نقل المزيد من فكر لو سالومي للعربية …

[Chu Qiao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful written letters.

[أحمد جيو حسن · Rating 5 out of 5]

ما هي الهدايا الجديدة التي جلبتها الحياة؟ معظمها أشياء سلبية، خسائر أيضًا، بما في ذلك فقدان الأشخاص الذين نحبهم.