Freud's interpretation in "Medusa's Head" and some alternative psychoanalytic implications of Ovid's Medusa.

Freud's very brief 1922 paper on the beheading of Medusa by Perseus wisely concludes with a call for a further examination of the sources of the legend. A now widespread interpretation of this legend is based (often without acknowledgement) on an addition to traditions concerning Medusa made in Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is argued here that this Ovidian innovation has often been misinterpreted, and that a more careful reading of Metamorphoses supports neither a widely alleged exclusively vengeful portrayal of Medusa, nor Freud's portrayal of Medusa's decapitation as solely a pitiable and terrible symbol of castration. Instead, Ovid's complex treatments of myths involving Medusa, Minerva and Perseus present parallels with Kleinian insights into phantasy attacks on fecundity, and into imagined revivals of dead or damaged inside babies. Thus the "displacement upwards" of the fearful castrated maternal genital envisioned in Freud's "Medusa's Head" must stand beside a quite different "displacement upwards" of the life-giving maternal genital. Indeed, tradition holds that Medusa's beheading gives rise to the birth of vigorous twins. Together with allied details, this aligns Ovid's masterwork with theories that modify or displace the so-called "sexual phallic monism" that some believe taints Freud's theories of gender development.

Was It Just a Dream? Aging and Dreaming the Psychoanalytic Process.

By revisiting the last years of a long psychoanalytic treatment of a female patient, a psychoanalyst reflects on her own development as a clinician and on the changes in her experience of psychoanalytic generativity. An increasing ability to understand patient's shifts between creativity and destructiveness brings about a different understanding of the process of mourning, while the shared aging of the analytic dyad highlights the difficulty of ending an analysis that has become a way of life.

Engaging with the unknown: How Judaism enabled Freud's psychological discoveries.

A large literature has formed around the question of how Freud's Jewishness and/or Judaism influenced his psychological discoveries and development of psychoanalytic theory and methods. The article organizes the literature into several core theses but brings new clarity and insight by applying two essential criteria to demonstrate an impact of Judaism on Freud's thinking: direct content and historical timing. First, there should be evidence that Freud incorporated actual content from Jewish sources, and second, this incorporation must have occurred during the most crucial period of Freud's early discovery, conceptualization, and development of psychoanalysis, roughly 1893-1910. Thus, for example, Bakan's well-known theory that Freud studied Kabbala is completely negated by the absence of any evidence in the required time period. Part I reviews the literature on the influence of Freud's ethnic/cultural Jewish identity. Part II introduces the Judaic sacred literature, explores Freud's education in Judaism and Hebrew, and presents evidence that Freud had the motive, means, and resources to discover and draw from the "Dream Segment" of the Talmud-along with the traditional Judaic methods and techniques of textual exegesis. Freud then applied these same Judaic word-centered interpretive methods-used for revealing an invisible God-to revealing an invisible Unconscious in four successive books in 1900, 1901, and 1905.

Hamlet e Macbeth nas teorias de Freud e Lacan / Hamlet and Macbeth by Freud and Lacan / Hamlet et Macbeth chez Freud et Lacan / Hamlet y Macbeth en las teorías de Freud y Lacan

A arte e a literatura estão presentes de maneira significativa, tanto em Freud quanto em Lacan, entretanto elas se inscrevem de diferentes formas nas duas teorias, isso pode ser melhor observado quando os autores se debruçam sobre uma mesma obra, como Hamlet de William Shakespeare. Além desta, Macbeth é outro drama shakespeariano que interessará a Freud por conta da personagem de Lady Macbeth. Diante disso, o artigo analisou as interpretações de Freud acerca dessas duas tragédias shakespearianas, assim como as de Lacan sobre Hamlet, investigando algumas particularidades acerca de relações com a arte e com a literatura. Embora impliquem em interpretações diversas, essas obras reúnem elementos importantes e por vezes com um valor de exemplo paradigmático para reflexões no campo da psicanálise

Both Freud and in Lacan make extensive, albeit different, use of art and literature in their theories. This can be better observed when they focus on the same work, such as Hamlet and, in Freud's case, Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Thus, this article analysed Freud's readings of these two Shakespearean tragedies, as well as Lacan's analysis of Hamlet, investigating some particularities about their relations with art and literature. Despite differences in interpretation, these works bring together important elements valuable as a paradigmatic example of psychoanalytic reflections

Freud et Lacan font tout deux un usage intensive, mais différent, de l'art et la littérature dans leurs théories. Cela peut être mieux lorsque les auteurs se concentrent sur la même œuvre, comme Hamlet et, dans le cas de Freud, Macbeth de William Shakespeare. Cet article donc analyse la lecture de Freud de ces deux tragédies shakespeariennes, ainsi que l'analyse de Lacan sur Hamlet, en étudiant certaines particularités de leurs relations avec l'art et la littérature. Bien qu'ils impliquent des interprétations différentes, ces travaux rassemblent des éléments importants et ont parfois valeur d'exemple paradigmatique pour les réflexions psychanalytiques

El arte y la literatura están presentes de manera significativa, tanto en Freud como en Lacan, sin embargo se inscriben de diferentes formas en ambas teorías, esto se puede observar mejor cuando los autores se enfocan en una misma obra, como Hamlet de William Shakespeare. Además de esto, Macbeth es otro drama de Shakespeare que a Freud le interesará por el personaje de Lady Macbeth. Por tanto, el artículo analizó las interpretaciones de Freud sobre estas dos tragedias de Shakespeare, así como las interpretaciones de Lacan sobre Hamlet, investigando algunas particularidades sobre sus relaciones con el arte y la literatura. Aunque implican diferentes interpretaciones, estas obras reúnen elementos importantes y, en ocasiones, con el valor de un ejemplo paradigmático para las reflexiones en el campo del psicoanálisis

The Reception of Lacanian Theory and Practice by American Psychoanalytic Training Programs.

This paper explores the principal reasons for the exclusion of Lacanian ideas from psychoanalytic training institutes in the United States. The history of Lacan's role in the International Psychoanalytical Association, from which essentially he was expelled, occupies a central place in this story. Significant issues arose also from his practice style and technical innovations, whose rationale remains controversial today. Another major obstacle for the reception of his work is the theoretical framework of Lacanian analysis, so different from that of other schools. Inclusion of its unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts poses practical problems for training programs. At a more fundamental level, the strong antihumanist evolution of Lacan's thought runs contrary to the increasingly relational and intersubjective orientation of American psychoanalysis. The incompatibility between the disparate languages of a scientific theory aiming at objectivity and a phenomenology of personal intentionality and meaning greatly limits the possibilities for dialogue. The tension between these perspectives cannot be resolved, but a productive exchange between them is possible if they are accepted as valid and complementary ways of speaking about human behavior.

The Most Hysterical Psychoanalyst.

This paper is an investigation into the prominence of hysteria in Lacan's work and the enduring significance of the diagnosis for contemporary practice. Beginning with Lacan's theory of neurosis, the importance of language, and symbolic functions, we will begin to understand why the hysterical symptom is the symptomatic structure par excellence. Lacan lauds hysteria as the neurosis in direct dialogue with a given historical moment, teaching the psychoanalyst where we are in the unfolding struggle between neurosis and civilization. He returned to the case of Dora throughout his twenty-eight years of teaching to refine his work. He even saw psychoanalysis as the progressive "hystericization" of the patient and depicted himself as an hysteric walking around on a stage, not knowing what he was saying, while attempting to teach the psychoanalysts. Lacan's reading of Dora seems to mark important shifts in his own life, from his beginning to write as a psychoanalyst, to being thrown out of the IPA, to struggling with his own school and the ensuing political eruptions in France in 1968. By tracking his elaboration of Dora we can witness the evolution of Lacan's work and how he uniquely positions the analyst in the transference.

An Introduction and Brief Overview of Psychoanalysis.

The field of psychology has been shaped by the views and perspectives of Sigmund Freud and his former students: Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, and Karen Horney. These psychologists and their respective schools of thought provide distinct views on psychology and influences on personality and psychosocial development. The foundation for psychoanalysis was laid by Freud, his work on the unconscious mind, and his emphasis on early childhood experiences. His students also made substantial contributions that expanded, sharpened, and challenged his theories. This review will begin by highlighting the work of Sigmund Freud; it will then compare his theories with the theories of his students. This review will introduce and bring attention to the most important figures of psychoanalysis and give a brief overview of their theories.

On the nature of transference interpretation and why only it can bring about analytic change.

Transference interpretation has always been regarded as very important to psychoanalytic practice. However, analysts differ on its centrality relative to other forms of intervention. This paper argues that transference interpretation as introduced by Freud and then taken up and developed by Klein ("transference interpretation proper") is, in fact, the only form of intervention that could bring about essentially analytic change. To understand why, a taxonomy of different forms of intervention commonly practiced within the analytic situation is presented, including interventions that relate to transference, but do not constitute transference interpretation proper. The latter kind is then described in detail. Next, the paper defines analytic change. It relies on a particular perspective on what it is to come to know psychic truth; one that sees such knowing as a lived state of mind, rather than a state of having knowledge about one's dynamics. This foundational Freudian perspective has been especially advanced through Klein's notion of phantasy. Given this view of analytic change it becomes clear that it can only be brought about through transference interpretation proper. The paper also addresses reasons why it seems especially difficult to embrace this view in contemporary psychoanalytic culture, while stressing how crucial it is to do so.

Liquid Modernity and Imagistic Production: Reflections on Social Media and Free Associations.

Social media has profound impact on how we experience the world and interact with others. Rapidly advancing technology has created platforms that have become increasingly image-based and emotionally manipulative. Do the new patterns of communication change patients' mental processes? Is free association becoming more imagistic? Contemporary clinical settings invite new perspectives on the intersections between the social and individual realms, patients' modes of expression, and analysts' interpretations.

The scientific character of psychoanalysis: Freud in the current discussion / El carácter científico del psicoanálisis: Freud en la discusión actual.

The discussion on the scientific character of psychoanalysis is continuous and multifaceted. Nowadays the extent and variety of the implied aspects in it is even increased. In this context this article presents for its analysis and assessment a reconsideration of Freud's line of argument regarding the scientific character of psychoanalysis. Against a quite spread view that conceives Freud's scientific perspective as a reflex of general traits of his time such as positivism, sustained by recent research on Freud this article proposes the reconsideration of Freud's perspective in a more exhaustive and nuanced way and holds that it is based on a composed by integrated parts, unified and consistent line of argument maintained through all his work. The reconsideration of the design of Freud's argument allows to hold that his own formulation is still fruitful and suitable for the present, particularly as it possibilitates, justifies and requires the connection of psychoanalysis to the development of knowledge.

La discusión respecto del carácter científico del psicoanálisis es continuada y multifacética. En la actualidad la extensión y variedad de aspectos implicados en ella sigue aun incrementándose. En este contexto el presente trabajo plantea para su análisis y evaluación una reconsideración de la argumentación de Freud respecto del carácter científico del psicoanálisis. Frente a una difundida visión que concibe la perspectiva científica de Freud como un reflejo de caracterizaciones generales de época, por ejemplo, positivismo, el presente trabajo apoyándose en líneas de investigación sobre Freud recientes, propone la reconsideración de su perspectiva de modo más específico y matizado. Sostiene que ella se basa en una argumentación basada en una concepción flexible de la metodología ciencia y en una concepción de la ciencia como forma cultural en desarrollo; argumentación compuesta de partes integradas, unificada y consistente, mantenida a través de toda la obra de Freud. La reconsideración del diseño de la argumentación de Freud permite sostener entonces que su propia formulación es fructífera aún para el presente en tanto posibilita, justifica y requiere la conexión del psicoanálisis con el desarrollo del conocimiento.

The visual image and the Denkbild: Sigmund Freud and Walter Benjamin on history and remembrance.

The present paper offers a comparative reading of Sigmund Freud's and Walter Benjamin's thoughts on remembrance and history. Freud's dream thought, constructed from visual images, and Benjamin's dialectical image, and the Denkbild as its literary form, are presented as intriguingly intertwined concepts. They both refer to residues of regressive thought expressed through the medium of the German Bild, which can be translated as image, picture or figure. The visual image (visuelles Bild) and the Denkbild are presented as crucial to the construction of history because they present a dialectic between a condensed experience of the past (beyond the scope of words and representation) and the inevitable transformation of experience into language. Freud's and Benjamin's late writings are read in the historical context of European Jewish intellectuals facing the rise of the Nazi regime. The images discussed comparatively here are Freud's last Moorish king and Benjamin's angel of history. These condensed images are presented as lamenting figures, images of despair and struggle. They serve as examples of the visual image's ability to represent the unrepresentable and capture hidden mnemic traces at traumatic times.

Radical Freud (Part Two): Freud's Bisexuality Thesis and the Negation of the Oedipus Complex.

The author focuses on bisexuality in a continued analysis of Freud's radical sexual theory. A close reading of texts from Freud's work, in particular "The Ego and the Id," demonstrates how Freud puts forward a bisexuality thesis in parallel and as an alternative to his thesis of the Oedipus complex. This bisexuality thesis is premised on the mechanism of object cathexis and identification by which the ego and superego are formed. The textual excavation is extended back to earlier material by Freud and other authors (Trigant Burrow, Isidor Sadger) to reveal the foundational bedrock of the bisexuality thesis in primary identification. This line of investigation boldly confirms not only Freud's view of the fundamental centrality of bisexuality to human sexuality but also its main consequence, which Freud himself implicitly recognizes, namely, the negation of the Oedipus complex. This argument has ramifications for the theory and clinical practice of psychoanalysis.

Freud's Red Thread: Explorations of the Unconscious Sense of Guilt.

The concept of an "unconscious sense of guilt" bedevils Freud throughout his life, rearing its head in at least twenty-four of his major works and working behind the scenes in many others. In a sense, we can see Freud's oeuvre, and psychoanalysis more generally, as a discourse of unconscious guilt. While Freud frames the oedipus complex as the central defining dynamic of human experience, the unconscious sense of guilt is arguably the underbelly that both precedes and exceeds that complex. By unraveling a range of complexities within Freud's conceptualization of unconscious guilt, we will come to see that guilt is an unavoidable by-product of the human condition, intrinsically interwoven with libidinal desire.

Remembering, repeating and working-through as a step in Freud's ongoing struggle with the "what", "why" and "how" of analytic knowing in the curative process.

In this paper the author offers a new reading of Freud's "Remembering, Repeating and Working-through", examining the complex nature of central concepts that Freud presents within it. She demonstrates the text's special role in an ongoing effort of Freud's to articulate and ground the heart of his analytic insight that knowledge cures. While the insight itself is very well-known, the fact that Freud struggled throughout his life with its articulation and grounding is not. The struggle centered on questions pertaining to how analytic knowing could, not only enlighten the patient, but actually change his unconscious dynamics, and why the patient, having already "opted" for pathology in place of knowing would come to accept it; and ultimately, what was the nature of the knowledge offered in analysis and the individual's relationship to it that allowed for such dramatic changes to occur. The author briefly presents some of her earlier work on Freud's struggle with these issues and how Melanie Klein resolved them. It is in this context that she demonstrates how in Remembering, Repeating and Working-through" Freud may be seen to be taking important steps towards developing his ideas on analytic knowing and in ways that anticipate Klein's resolutions. This points to the close tie between Klein's and Freud's thinking on the nature of the analytic process and the person's desire for self-knowledge on which it relies, brings out the richness of this thinking and grounds its value to contemporary psychoanalysis.

Orthogonal Polynomials with Singularly Perturbed Freud Weights.

In this paper, we are concerned with polynomials that are orthogonal with respect to the singularly perturbed Freud weight functions. By using Chen and Ismail's ladder operator approach, we derive the difference equations and differential-difference equations satisfied by the recurrence coefficients. We also obtain the differential-difference equations and the second-order differential equations for the orthogonal polynomials, with the coefficients all expressed in terms of the recurrence coefficients.

Friendship, Creativity and Dispute in the Freud-Fliess and Ferenczi-Groddeck Letters.

In this paper we examine the different transferential relationships that occurred between two sets of friends: Freud-Fliess and Ferenczi-Groddeck; consider the impact of these variables on their productivity, creativity, and friendship; and review historical literature to analyze how the nature of their bonds shaped very different personal destinies. Freud and Fliess greatly admired each other, and expressed reciprocal support, trust, and idealization but their underlying dispute over the paternity of certain ideas ultimately led to a bitter end. Essentially, their transference can be characterized as paternal-filial. The Ferenczi-Groddeck relationship, on the other hand, shared many of the same traits as the Freud-Fliess pair: a strong friendship, mutual admiration, even idealization, but their bond evolved into a more fraternal transference, which enabled their love, admiration, and respect to develop into a mutually-enriching relationship that endured for their entire lives.

Questioning the Unrepresented: The Essential and the Accidental in Psychoanalysis, Part 2.

The author questions the conceptual basis of the unrepresented, a set of terms including: the unstructured unconscious, figurability, and reverie. Because this terminology proposes a profoundly different metapsychology than Freud developed, the author contextualizes the fate of Freud's metapsychology in America and how it was confused with the authority of the classical analyst. Then excerpts of texts by Howard B. Levine, one of the main proponents of the unrepresented, are analyzed to show that the decisive element in Levine's claim of creating meaning for patients is figurability. The author does a close reading and elaboration of French analyst Laurence Kahn's very thoughtful critique of figurability. Kahn's scholarship is brought to bear on Freud's metapsychology, showing how what is at stake are presentations not figures. Figuration and reverie are founded on the projection of referential and narrative coherence onto what is presented by the patient. But the unconscious does exactly the opposite, it presents to consciousness its noncoherent derivatives (presentations). Kahn illuminates Freud's mode of thinking using the critique of figurability as a springboard to show us what is essential in conceptualizing unconscious functioning.

A Metapsychology of the Unrepresented.

The terms unrepresented and unrepresented states are increasingly being referred to in psychoanalytic discourse, without our having established a generally agreed upon consensus about their definition, use or meaning. While these particular designations were never used by Freud, a careful reading of his work reveals them to be qualities that characterize the initial state of both the drive and perception. This paper attempts to place these terms in a clinically useful, metapsychological perspective by reviewing their conceptual origin in Freud and examining their elaboration and clinical relevance in the work of Bion, Winnicott, and Green. These concepts should prove especially useful for understanding and addressing problems presented by non-neurotic patients and psychic organizations and will help expand the reach and efficacy of psychoanalytic understanding and technique to increasing numbers of contemporary patients.

Lacan and Culturalism: A Chronicle of an "Untimely" Resistance to Psychoanalysis.

Although neither Sigmund Freud nor Jacques Lacan ever neglected the place of culture and the social field for the subject, they always opposed "culturalist" ideas, even when such ideas no longer used this label. It is important to examine what both of these figures said about culturalism, but it is just as pertinent to return to other criticisms of this movement, which developed in the United States during the last century, because at present this movement has returned covertly within French psychoanalysis. First, "culturalism" is neither a specifically American problem nor one that belongs to the past. Second, some decisive criticisms of this movement remain both germane and original: they are able to throw light on a theoretical current that, at least in France, now characterizes a dominant orientation of psychoanalytic work. Third, although Lacan himself foresaw it, the misuse of some of his notions has unexpectedly served as a Trojan horse that has enabled culturalism to return.