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From Freud to Foucault – The Study of Oedipus Complex from A Triple Perspective, Master thesis, Art Theory, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China 2021 [application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • Oedipus complex is a key concept in psychoanalysis. It is related to the theory of sexual instinct within the system, the field of unconsciousness, the analysis of dreams, neurosis and other important categories, and has caused numerous disputes since its birth. In the past, the evaluation of Oedipus complex mainly focused on three aspects: one is that children depend on their mother rather than sexual desire for food and emotional needs; the other is the penile centralism and neglect of mother in Freud’s theory; the third is the universality of Oedipus complex. These controversies still follow the critical thinking of Malinowski and Fromm, but actually do not touch the core of Oedipus complex. Because the Oedipus complex in Freud’s view is essentially a concept about sex, and the successors of Lacan and other psychoanalytic schools have responded to these disputes by reinterpreting the Oedipus complex.– Therefore, this paper will focus on the initial definition of Oedipus complex and explore the original rationality of this concept. Freud first discovered the special relationship between early children and their parents when exploring the causes of neurosis. This relationship appears again frequently in typical dream cases and self-analysis. Therefore, Freud regarded this connection as a common phenomenon and applied it to clinical treatment and analysis. In addition to returning to the context in which Freud raised this issue, we also introduce Levi Strauss and Foucault’s theory of sex and gender from the perspective of triangular interpersonal structure and human gender differences to reflect on the bias of traditional interpretation of the concept of Oedipus complex. Specifically speaking: Freud believed that the sexual desire contained in Oedipus complex can only appear in the form of heterosexuality, that is, the first impulse of a child should be directed to the heterosexual side of the parents. According to Foucault’s analysis of the relationship between power and sex, sexual experience is produced rather than born with us. Therefore, in this sense, the concept of Oedipus complex constructed by Freud falls into the power. Furthermore, Freud limited the external manifestation of Oedipus complex to the family triangle in the general sense of experience. This kind of setting only pays attention to the interaction between kinship roles, and does not consider each role in the whole system. In Levi Strauss’s view, the deep structure of kinship is the uncle nephew relationship based on the premise of >incest taboo<, which includes four words: >brother-sister-father-son<. This >basic structure of kinship< is universal and stable in explaining all the facts of kinship. To sum up, this paper intends to analyze the heterosexual form and triangular relationship in Oedipus complex through Foucault’s theory of sexual experience and Levi Strauss’s theory of kinship structure. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 4/2023]

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Metadaten
Author:Ding Luo
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2021
Release Date:2024/04/04
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Luo_Ding_2021
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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