A General Introduction to PsychoanalysisFreud, Sigmund
Science
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
Freud, Sigmund
Psychoanalysis
therefore, might be said to consist of raw material, much in the same
manner as our thought language is broken up by the dream work into its
raw materials when the expressions of relationship are left out. In the
Chinese, in all cases of vagueness the decision is left to the
understanding of the hearer, who is guided by the context. I have
secured an example of a Chinese saying which, literally translated,
reads: "Little to be seen, much to wonder at." That is not difficult to
understand. It may mean, "The less a man has seen, the more he finds to
wonder at," or, "There is much to admire for the man who has seen
little." Naturally, there is no need to choose between these two
translations, which differ only in grammar. Despite these uncertainties,
we are assured, the Chinese language is an extraordinarily excellent
medium for the expression of thought. Vagueness does not, therefore,
necessarily lead to ambiguity.
Now we must certainly admit that the condition of affairs is far less
favorable in the expression-system of the dream than in these ancient
languages and writings. For, after all, these latter are really designed
for communication, that is to say, they were always intended to be
understood, no matter in what way and with what aids. But it is just
this characteristic which the dream lacks. The dream does not want to
tell anyone anything, it is no vehicle of communication, it is, on the
contrary, constructed so as not to be understood. For that reason we
must not be surprised or misled if we should discover that a number of
the ambiguities and vagaries of the dream do not permit of
determination. As the one specific gain of our comparison, we have only
the realization that such uncertainties as people tried to make use of
in objecting to the validity of our dream interpretation, are rather the
invariable characteristic of all primitive systems of expression.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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