Freud: A Life for Our Time
.jpg) The first edition | |
| Author | Peter Gay |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Published | 1988 (J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd) |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 810 (1995 edition) |
| ISBN | 0-333-48638-2 (1995 edition) |
Freud: A Life for Our Time is a 1988 biography of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud by historian Peter Gay, who draws on new material that has become available since the publication of Ernest Jones' The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (1953).[1] The book has been criticized by several authors skeptical of psychoanalysis, but has also been praised.
Summary
Gay writes that, "As a historian, I have placed Freud and his work within their various environments: the psychiatric profession he subverted and revolutionized, the Austrian culture in which he was compelled to life as an unbelieving Jew and unconventional physician, the European society that underwent in his lifetime the appalling traumas of war and totalitarian dictatorship, and Western culture as a whole, a culture whose sense of itself he transformed out of all recognition, forever."[2]
Reception
A best-selling book, Freud: A Life for Our Time has been widely translated.[3] The book has been criticized by authors skeptical of psychoanalysis.[1][4][5] Allen Esterson identifies it as one of several works that uncritically repeat Freud's incorrect claim that during his early clinical experiences, which led to the creation of psychoanalysis, his patients reported to him that they had been sexually abused in early childhood, and he subsequently realized that in most cases these assaults were phantasies, not real events.[4]
Cultural historian Richard Webster writes in his Why Freud Was Wrong (1995) that while Gay's biography is presented an objective exercise in historical scholarship, and considers the failings of psychoanalysis and Freud's mistakes, it nonetheless retains a reverent attitude toward Freud, preserving the myths about Freud created by previous biographers. He calls these myths the "Freud legend". He believes that the acclaim the book received shows the persistence of the Freud legend, noting that with exceptions such as Peter Swales, many reviewers praised it, especially in Britain. He sees its appeal to supporters of psychoanalysis as being its favorable view of Freudian ideas.[1]
Social and cultural theorist Todd Dufresne writes that Gay's book has a "reverential" attitude to psychoanalysis, noting that critics have objected that it reports as fact claims that have long been known to be mistaken, including details concerning the treatment of Freud's patient Anna O.[5]
The work received a favorable reception from philosopher Richard Wollheim, who calls it "magisterial" and "of exceptional interest". Wollheim writes that Gay's biography invites comparison with Ernest Jones's The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (1953). He observes that while Gay, unlike Jones, did not suffer from the limitation of being able to write only what Anna Freud found acceptable, his freedom as a scholar was nevertheless restricted by the policies of the Freud Archives. Gay, in contrast to Jones, tries to integrate Freud's life and thought, including only as much of Freud's thought as necessary to understand his life.[6] Richard H. Armstrong credits Gay with "extraordinary narrative skills".[7]
See also
References
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Webster 2005. pp. 27-28.
- ↑ Gay 1995. p. xvii
- ↑ Norton 2014.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Esterson 1993. pp. 11-12.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dufresne 2007. p. 166.
- ↑ Wollheim 1991. pp. xxi-xxii.
- ↑ Armstrong 2015.
Bibliography
- Books
- Dufresne, Todd (2007). Against Freud. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-5548-1.
- Esterson, Allen (1993). Seductive Mirage: An Exploration of the Work of Sigmund Freud. Peru, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8126-9231-4.
- Gay, Peter (1995). Freud: A Life for Our Time. London: Papermac. ISBN 0-333-48638-2.
- Webster, Richard (2005). Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis. Oxford: The Orwell Press. ISBN 0-9515922-5-4.
- Wollheim, Richard (1991). Freud. London: FontanaPress. ISBN 0-00-686223-3.
- Online articles
- W. W. Norton. "Peter Gay". Retrieved 2014-05-06.
- Armstrong, Richard H. "Bio-Riffing on Freud". Retrieved 2015-02-01.
