Between Sigmund Freud and Paul Federn: culture as a shared path of sublimation

ABSTRACT

Freud’s interest in culture and its various manifestations – one could even call it a passion of his – is well known. We examine the correspondence between Freud and Paul Federn – which consists of 147 cards and letters, some of them completely new, and includes Freud’s letters to Federn’s wife – in order to show that their relationship too was based on their shared interest in culture. Federn was more than a colleague: he was both Freud’s right-hand man institutionally in Vienna and a trusted person to whom he referred some of his patients. This correspondence has not only historical significance but also brings to light the theoretical stakes in issues that continue to remain central to psychoanalysis.

KEYWORDS:

• Correspondence
• culture
• history of psychoanalysis
• Freud
• Federn

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This correspondence comes from the letters published by Paul Federn’s son Ernst (Federn, 1990) and the archives we were able to set up and which consist entirely of letters written by Freud to Federn, on the whole unpublished, and photographs of the Federn family. In the text, these letters are labeled as ‘ Archives Houssier et al. (in press).’

2. H. Nothnagel (1841–1905) was a German internist, one of the mentors of S. Freud at the Vienna medical faculty. From 1882 until his death, he was a professor at the university clinic in Vienna, and a great figure of European medicine. He became the teacher, mentor, and friend of Federn during his medicine course.

3. Viktor Tausk (1879–1919) was a pioneer psychoanalyst and neurologist. A student of Freud, he was the earliest exponent of psychoanalytical concepts with regard to clinical psychosis. His most well-known publications is the paper called ‘On the Origin of the Influencing Machine in Schizophrenia’ (Tausk, 1919). This work influenced many later psychoanalytic thoughts, including H. Kohut in his work the ‘Analysis of the Self,’ where narcissistic regression showed great similarities with psychotic fantasmatic configurations.

4. They were eventually published by Ernst Federn and Herman Nunberg.

5. Maximilian Oppenheimer (1885–1954) was an Austrian painter and illustrator, famous for, among others, his many portraits (Karl Marx, Heinrich Mann, Arthur Schnitzler, etc.).

6. E. Weiss (1889–1970) was an Italian psychoanalyst. Student of Freud and analyzed by Federn, he introduced in Italy the psychoanalytic theory and became the principal follower and support to the Federn’s ideas.

7. Oscar Nemon (1906–1985), who appears in Freud’s text under the Germanized name ‘Neumann,’ was a Croatian sculptor essentially known for his statues of Winston Churchill.

8. During this time, Annie Krull played Elektra in production staged by Dr. Richard Von Strauss in Vienna.

9. ‘The typical affection for the father develops, with a correspondingly jealous attitude toward the mother.’

10. ‘Elektra took revenge on her mother for the murder of her husband, because that mother had robbed her of her father.’

11. Let us note that the first part of the exact title is very often omitted, including when Freud cites Federn’s work: On the Psychology of Revolution: The Fatherless Society.

12. ‘If another group tie takes the place of the religious one – and the socialistic tie seems to be succeeding in doing so – then there will be the same intolerance towards outsiders as in the age of the Wars of Religion […]’ (Freud, 1921, p. 98).

13. Despite our efforts, we have not been able to find any trace of the works in question.

14. The original title suggested by Mrs. Federn is Die Treibjagt.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

F. Houssier

Florian Houssier is currently a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, professor of clinical psychology and psychopathology at the Paris 13 University, Laboratory UTRPP, EA 4403, Sorbonne Paris City. He is also President of the International College of Adolescence. His major research interests are the psychopathology of adolescence and adult, the family ties, the violence, the delinquency and the history of psychoanalysis.

A. Blanc

Adrien Blanc is currently a clinical psychologist and doctor in clinical psychology and psychopathology and associated member of the Laboratory of Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis (PCPP, EA 4056) at University Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris City. His major research interests are the psychodrama psychoanalytic, the evaluation of therapeutic process and the history of psychoanalysis.

D. Bonnichon

Delphine Bonnichon is currently a clinical psychologist and doctor in clinical psychology and psychopathology and associated member of the Laboratory of Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis (PCPP, EA 4056) at University Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris City. Her major research interests are the suicide, the violence, the adolescence, the handicap and the history of psychoanalysis.

X. Vlachopoulou

Xanthie Vlachopoulou is currently a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Laboratory of Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis (PCPP, EA 4056), University Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris City. She is the co-founder of the Institut du Virtuel. Her major research interests are the virtual reality, the adolescent process and the history of psychoanalysis.