International Journal of Psychoanalysis最新文献

Much has been written until this day about the sentence Wo Es war, soll Ich werden, which concludes the XXXIst lecture of the "New introductory lectures on sychoanalysis" devoted to the "Dissection of the psychical personality". For almost a hundred years, layer upon layer of translation and interpretation have accumulated to obscure the meaning of this suggestive aphorism. My aim here will be to go back to the Freudian original - a move that although inspired by Jacques Lacan's approach in the 1950s does not take up his interpretative line. Rather, acting in the manner of a restorer carefully cleaning a painting so as to bring out the original colors and background, I will endeavor to remove one by one the accumulated layers of interpretation that have come to obscure the meaning of the Freudian formula. By shedding light on the formula's ambiguities as well as its intertextual echoes (Goethe, Romain Rolland and Ferenczi), I intend to breathe new life into it and demonstrate the depth of meaning attached to it, thus reviving its significance and resonance. Indeed, insofar as the very meaning of psychoanalysis is at stake, these interpretive debates are of concern not only to the Freudian exegete, but to all analysts in their relationship to psychoanalysis and to interpretation and theory. I will argue that the equivocation of Freud-Mephistopheles's formula, which I will refer to as a "Faustian Cogito" or "Faustian Witz", is an invitation to devote ourselves to the never-ending task of reinventing psychoanalysis.

The paper comments on Mark Solms' Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud and the challenges to grasp the subtleties and ambiguity of Freud's language. It argues that "translation" is not something that just "occurs"' to a text which is already completed, but an ongoing process that carries forward and explores different layers of meaning. The author tries to show that Freud saw himself as a "translator" and that "translation" reaches at the very core of the psychoanalytical endeavour. The multiple meanings of "transference", and the translation of terms like "Nachträglichkeit" and "Zweizeitigkeit" (bi-temporality), are presented as examples of this. To conclude, Freud's dwelling in two different epistemological models, the language of neurophysiology and the language of meaning, as well as the limits of translation are discussed.

Freud's "Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria" stands as one of his most extensive case studies, weaving together his explorations of the Oedipus complex, dream analysis, and hysteria. In this study, I propose an alternative lens through which to interpret the case: as a Bildungsroman. While ostensibly focused on Dora, the analysand, and her journey to maturity, the narrative occasionally appears to be overshadowed by Freud's own experiences and story. I contend that this overtaking of Dora's narrative is facilitated by both thematic and linguistic factors. Additionally, I examine the theme of the Oedipal complex, which intersects with a concurrent power struggle, linking it to the affective PLAY system. This system plays a role in shaping social hierarchies, internalizing group norms, delineating interpersonal boundaries, and guiding group interactions - elements intrinsically connected to the Oedipus complex. I argue that in many instances this system is used abusively "against" Dora.¹1 Earlier versions of this paper were presented in a clinical writing workshop held by the Journal "Neuropsychoanalysis" in February 2022 and at the 22nd annual congress of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society held in Tel Aviv, Israel, in July 2023 (Biran 2024). A much shorter version was published as society proceedings in Neuropsychoanalysis (Flores Mosri et al. 2022).

This essay takes its point of departure from Mark Solms' contention that Freud's neurological thinking informs his work throughout, and that the RSE renders this more thoroughly than the SE. Starting from this contention I examine and compare the RSE and the SE on the question Freud's theorization of difference from his neurological writings onward. I pay special attention to the subtle distinction in the original German of Freud's uses of Unterschied (difference between) and Differenz (difference).

The transition of Freud's Die Traumdeutung into its first English language incarnation as The Interpretation of Dreams, translated by A.A. Brill, took several years to effect, the process being beset with conceptual, practical, legal, and political obstacles. Anxieties over possible obscenity charges in Britain led to novel forms of censorship being applied to the first edition by its London publisher in 1913, while issues relating to the politics of translation and local British efforts to standardise psychoanalytic nomenclature would bedevil the text over its first two decades. In the context of the launch of the Revised Standard Edition (RSE), the present paper reveals these earlier issues for the first time. Having then considered the book's reception in both Britain and the United States, its sales and varying editions, the paper concludes with a discussion of the covert and contentious reediting of the work's third English edition, published in 1933. The shadow of this history inevitably falls on the RSE.

This article explores the concept of transgenerational trauma. I draw from two distinct archives to approach the "transgenerational" in a more nuanced manner - one that moves beyond a linear past-to-present trajectory. The first of these is the Freudian archive, where I revisit the concept of Nachträglichkeit to shed light on the temporal dynamics between past and present, particularly in the affective responses of young black students during interactions with their white peers. By expanding Nachträglichkeit beyond its traditional application to early childhood experiences, I argue that this concept is equally relevant in a broader array of relational contexts. The second archive I draw from is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa. Reflecting on the TRC's public testimony process as a representation of "breaking with the past" to imagine a new future provides valuable insights into the transgenerational dynamics shaping contemporary South African society. I return to the TRC archive to focus on a pivotal moment during the opening of the TRC public hearings - a traumatic, iconic scream - to explore how this event's temporal horizons, bridging past and future, can help us comprehend a present in which the past seemingly replays itself.

After 30 years of collective effort and intensive discussion, Mark Solms and the Institute of Psychoanalysis in London have finally succeeded in completing all 24 volumes of the Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (RSE). Within the framework of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, we have been working for 12 years on the primarily digital historical-critical (historisch-kritische) Sigmund Freud Edition (FE). The FE strives for completeness. A look back in history also shows how closely the German and English editions are linked with each other and how deeply Freud himself was involved right up to the end of his life, and thus also authorised these editions. RSE and FE mark the current status of a development that is still ongoing. They have different approaches, tasks and foci; however, with regard to text-critical criteria, in many ways, they can support each other.