The Interpretation of Dreams

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Cover of the first edition

In The Interpretation of Dreams , the Austrian doctor Sigmund Freud presented a new type of dream theory that focuses on the connection between dreams and personal life history. The first edition appeared on November 4, 1899 and was post-dated to 1900. The Interpretation of Dreams is one of the most widely read and influential books of the 20th century.

Freud's Dream Interpretation is considered a fundamental work of psychoanalysis . For Freud, the meaning of every dream is wish fulfillment. In our dreams, repressed current wishes as well as those from childhood manifest themselves, which are often shown in coded form, which is why the dream interpretation is also "the via regia [Latin: the royal path] to the knowledge of the unconscious in the soul".

content

The Interpretation of Dreams brings together the fundamental elements of Freud's psychoanalysis for the first time: the unconscious, repression, early childhood sexuality and the work on raising awareness of hidden conflicts as a therapeutic method. According to Freud, dreams have a meaning that can be deduced hermeneutically. In the dream, unacceptable wishes, repressed by the censorship of the psychic apparatus, which often have a sexual background and are related to childhood experiences, strive for fulfillment. Since arousal would endanger sleep, the desires are obscured by “condensation” and “displacement”. The interpretation of dreams with the help of a therapist makes previously unconscious internal disturbances and conflicts accessible to processing.

construction

The dream interpretation is divided into seven chapters.

  • In the first chapter Freud gives an overview of previous research on the subject of dream interpretation.
  • The second chapter deals with analysis as a method of dream interpretation. Using the example of Freud's own dream, which deals with the incorrect treatment of a patient by the name of Irma by a colleague, it is shown how Freud's wishes arose out of feelings of guilt and revenge, who had treated Irma unsuccessfully in real life and had suffered from the critical attitude of a colleague, found fulfillment in his dream.
  • In the third chapter, Freud uses examples to explain his thesis of dreams as wish-fulfillment.
  • The fourth chapter describes the disguise and concealment as a characteristic of dream content.
  • The fifth chapter is devoted to the origins and mechanisms of dreams. Here the processing of current experiences, the motives from childhood and the somatic sources of dreams are discussed.
  • The sixth chapter deals with the means of interpretation that the therapist can use when working on dreams. Here, for example, “compression” (the character of dream content) and “shift” (concealment of content through transmission) play a special role.
  • In the important seventh chapter, Freud explains the processes of the dream again in connection with his conception of the psyche. With regard to the connection between current experience and childhood memories, it says here: “Dreaming is a part of the child's soul life that has been overcome.” Below he emphasizes the area of ​​the soul that is not directly accessible to consciousness by saying: “The unconscious is actually the real psychic. "

effect

It is undisputed that Freud's interpretation of dreams gave essential impulses for the development of the human and world view of the 20th century in almost all areas of Western culture. Particularly noteworthy are the effects on psychology, literature and philosophy. The work also exerted a strong influence on the visual arts, especially on the pictures of the Surrealists .

criticism

Notwithstanding the essential impetus for psychological research that the work provided, some of the claims and theses which Freud makes in the Interpretation of Dreams are viewed critically by many experts today. In particular, the narrowing of dreams to repressed, negatively valued desires and the one-sided emphasis on the sexual needs - often applied in childhood - as the cause of dream subjects are the subject of critical discussions with dream interpretation .

Web links

Commons : The Interpretation of Dreams  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerda Pagel: The Interpretation of Dreams. In: Franco Volpi , Julian Nida-Rümelin (eds.): Lexicon of philosophical works (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 486). Kröner, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-520-48601-6 , p. 732.
  2. ^ Literaturkritik.de: Freud's Century Book
  3. ↑ Renate Schlesier: Hermeneutics on the royal road to the unconscious: Freud's dream interpretation (1900). In: Walter Erhart / Herbert Jaumann [Hrsg.]: Century books: Great theories from Freud to Luhmann. Munich: Beck 2000, p. 14
  4. ↑ Sigmund Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams. Franz Deuticke: Leipzig and Vienna 1939, p. 93
  5. ↑ Sigmund Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams. Franz Deuticke: Leipzig and Vienna 1939, p. 415
  6. ↑ Sigmund Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams. Franz Deuticke: Leipzig and Vienna 1939, p. 387
  7. ↑ Sigmund Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams. Franz Deuticke: Leipzig and Vienna 1939, p. 417
  8. ↑ Hans Joachim Störig: Small world history of philosophy. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2000, p. 627
  9. ↑ Christian Thies: Introduction to Philosophical Anthropology. Darmstadt: Scientific Book Society 2004, p. 13
  10. ^ Thomas Anz: Reading and Writing according to Freud. Accessed on September 27, 2012 on the Internet at http://www.uni-marburg.de/aktuelles/unijournal/feb2007/freud
  11. ↑ Thomas Anz: Psychoanalysis and literary modernity: To the beginnings of a dramatic relationship. On the Internet at http://www.literaturkritik.de/public/rezension.php?rez_id=5803 accessed on September 27, 2012
  12. ↑ Karin Thomas: Until today: Style history of the fine arts in the 20th century. DuMont, Cologne 2004, p. 100.
  13. ↑ Martin Schuster: How pictures work: Psychology of art. DuMont, Cologne 2002, p. 146.
  14. ^ Karl Ruhrberg: Painting. In: Ingo F. Walther (ed.): Art of the 20th century. Taschen, Cologne 2002, p. 138.
  15. ↑ Christoph Wetzel: The Reclam book of art. Reclam, Stuttgart 2001, p. 457.
  16. ↑ 1899 Dream Interpretation: The Key to the Unconscious. In: GEOEPOCHE No. 1/1999 The Millennium: Balance of a Millennium. , P. 156
  17. ^ Anthony Storr: Freud. Freiburg i. Br .: Herder 1999, p. 41 ff.