The Repression of Psychoanalysis: Otto Fenichel and The Political Freudians, New York (Basic Books, Inc) 1983, 216 p.; esp. pp. 107-111.

  • An examination of the mechanisms and costs of the repression of psychoanalysis, focusing on the case of the >political Freudians'< transplantation to America, in 7 Chpts with an author's Preface. (1) The Repression of Psychoanalysis-discusses the choice made by post-World War II immigrant psychoanalysts between the breadth of European psychoanalysis and a cautious exile in an anti-Marxist environment, and it is suggested that >the structure of psychoanalysis is founded on...the repression of its own past>. The history of Otto Fenichel's secret circle-including Edith Jacobson, Annie Reich, Kate Friedlander, George Cero, Barbara Lantos, Edith Ludowyk Gyomroi, and Berta Bornstein-and their Rundbriefe (round letters) is outlined. (2) Spring's Awakening: Analysts as Rebels-describes the atmosphere of psychoanalysis in pre-World War I Europe, focusing on the importance of theories of sexuality, and the impact of Otto Gross and the youth movements. (3) The Berlin Institute: The Politics of Psychoanalysis-treats Fenichel's activities among the Berlin psychoanalysts during the 1920s and early 1930s, including his controversial, political >Children's Seminar<. Fenichel's socialism, attitude toward communism, and visits to the USSR are evaluated. (4) Exile: The Secret Freudians and Their Rundbriefe-charts the Fenichel group's flight from the Nazis, their vain attempts to form a united front with Wilhelm Reich, and subsequent efforts to explore a social and political psychoanalysis in the face of the psychoanalytic establishment's growing conservatism. (5) Psychoanalysis and Its Discontents: Freudians against Freudians-outlines the disagreements Fenichel had with positions of Erich FROMM, Sandor Ferenczi, Karen Horney, Margaret Mead, and various Reichians, neo-Freudians, and conservatives. (6) The Illusion of a Future: Political Psychoanalysis in the United States-describes Fenichel's life and death in Los Angeles, Calif, where he was one of the few advocates of lay praxis and a classical and theoretical psychoanalysis. (7) The Americanization of Psychoanalysis-contrasts the works of Robert Lindner, C. Wright Mills, and Paul Baran, pointing to their different accesses to the classical and radical literature of their respective fields. The narrowing of psychoanalysis is examined, focusing on the change in translation from one cultural idiom to another, the loss of humanism and politics in the processes of medicalization and professionalization, and the repression of the possibilities of psychoanalysis. Appendix: Four Rundbriefe. Notes

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Metadaten
Author:Russell Jacoby
Document Type:Articles
Language:English
Year of first Publication:1983
Release Date:2014/01/28
Format:PDF-scan to download
IdNo:Jacoby_R_1983
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Articles / Artikel
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Articles / Artikel
Licence (German):
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