Family novel (psychoanalysis)

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The family novel is a term coined by Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank , which describes the modification of real family history, including the appreciation of real child caregivers in the context of daydreams or phantasms . According to Freud, this change corresponds to different childish wishes in different stages of development and the characteristic appreciation of the relationship with the parents (cf. primary process and secondary process ). The term “novel” expresses a certain deviation from reality in a similar way as with the concept of cover memory. The “novel” thus adopts an objective point of view . It is based on the assumption of real caregivers of the child or young person and their real life story. In comparison with the supposed caregiver and the fantasized life story, it is concluded that unconscious wishes are involved. The “novel plot” is sometimes designed in such a way that the parents are replaced in these phantasies by socially superior people, but sometimes there is also a contrary tendency to disregard these caregivers, in that they are devalued and even lose their lives. According to Freud, the point of such a modification is that the first years of childhood are dominated by a great overestimation and idealization of the parents. Accordingly, king and queen in dreams and fairy tales according to Freud always only mean the parents. This attitude of overestimation gave way to a more critical attitude later in the secondary process.

The origin of the term

Otto Rank was given the opportunity through Freud's work to confirm psychoanalytic theses on the basis of mythologies. He did this primarily through the documentation of birth reports or through reports about royal or divine parents and the later exposure of heroic figures. The births of Heracles , Paris , Oedipus , Romulus , Lohengrin , Sargon of Akkad , Moses , Cyrus II and Jesus were compared with each other. By including divine and / or religious topics, relevant questions about the origin of religion are promoted. Freud's theses refer to the socio-psychological conceptions already presented in “ Totem and Tabu ” . In his later work " The Man of Moses and the Monotheistic Religion " Freud takes up this concept again.

Differences in gender roles

Freud interprets the differences in gender roles primarily in terms of biologically oriented social research. Culturally determined differences appear to be of secondary importance. Freud describes the mother as a persona “certissima”. She appears to be the most “secure” person statistically in the parenting role or the person most frequently present in the care and upbringing of the child. The father is considered to be “pater semper incertus”, i. H. as “always very uncertain” parent to be determined both in biological and in legal and educational-factual terms. The mainly biologically conditioned parenting role is also expressed in other writings by Freud. According to Freud, the ambivalent appreciation of the parents results from the contradicting biological conditions. A mother cannot easily hide her pregnancy. Here, paradoxically, the permanent real presence of the mother and U. just their idealization. The absence of the father, on the other hand, can actually contribute to idealization.

reception

Similar to Otto Rank, Carl Gustav Jung also appreciated the concept of the family novel for the interpretation of mythological and myth-related stories. Also Eugen Drewermann be mentioned as such author. He refers to Jung's psychology and his method of interpretation at the subject level , which differs from the Freudian way of working. The question of centering mythological representations on the main figure of the respective story, a fairy tale or a myth . Although the main character of a narrative often seems to be fixed, it is usually not that easy to find out. The large number of people within the plot of a fairy tale can be due to a single principle, which can be described as the principle of individuation in the interplay with opposing forces. For example, the frequently recurring set piece in myths and fairy tales of the story of a sick king who sends his three sons to find healing. According to Jung, figures like “King”, “Father” and “God” also represent consciousness , and the sons represent the powers of the ego .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Sigmund Freud : The family novel of the neurotics . (1909) in: Collected Works (current edition). Vol. VII, pp. 225-231; originally (1909) in: Otto Rank : The myth of the birth of the hero . Leipzig and Vienna 1909, pp. 64–68 (2nd edition 1922, pp. 82–86)
  2. ↑ a b Sigmund Freud: The man Moses and the monotheistic religion . (1939) Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2010; ISBN 978-3-15-018721-0 ; P. 101 * 29; (Page number * number of lines)
  3. ^ Elisabeth Roudinesco , & Michel Plon: Dictionary of Psychoanalysis . Names, countries, works, terms. Springer, Heidelberg / New York 2004 (original title: Dictionnaire de la psychoanalyse (1997), translated by Christoph Eissing-Christophersen), ISBN 3-211-83748-5 ; Wb.-Lemma: “Familienroman”, p. 230 f .; on-line
  4. ↑ Sigmund Freud: Some psychological consequences of the anatomical sex difference . (1925) GW Vol. 14, pp. 19-30 online
  5. ↑ Sigmund Freud: About female sexuality . (1931) GW 14; Pp. 517-537 online
  6. ↑ Eugen Drewermann : Depth Psychology and Exegesis 1 . The truth of forms. Dream, myth, fairy tale, saga and legend. dtv non-fiction book 30376, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-423-30376-X , © Walter-Verlag, Olten 1984, ISBN 3-530-16852-1 ; on the tax "centering" and "family novel": pp. 213, 198, 200, 379, (393 f.)