The Theory of PsychoanalysisJung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Science
The Theory of Psychoanalysis
Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Neuroses; Psychoanalysis; Psychology, Pathological; Sex
We can conclude, from these universal psychological observations, that
the child, in its dream, elaborates the problem of generation and
childbirth. As to the wolf, the father probably has to be put in its
place, for the child unconsciously assigns to the father any act of
violence towards the mother. This anticipation can be based on
innumerable myths which deal with the problem of any act of violence
towards the mother. In reference to the mythological parallelism, let me
direct your attention to Boas’s collection, where you will find a
beautiful set of Indian legends; also to the work of Frobenius, “Das
Zeitaltes Sonnengottes”; and, finally, to the works of Abraham, Rank,
Riklin, Jones, Freud, Spielrein, and my own investigations in my
“Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido.”
After having made these general observations for theoretical reasons,
which, of course, were not made in the concrete case, we will go back to
see what the child has to tell in regard to her dream. Of course the
child speaks of her dream just as she likes, without being influenced in
any way whatever. The little girl begins with the bite in her leg, and
relates, that she had once been told by a woman who had had a baby, that
she could still show the place where the stork had bitten her. This mode
of expression is, in Switzerland, a universally known variant of the
symbolism of generation and birth. Here we find a perfect parallelism
between our interpretation and the associations of the child. The first
associations which have been brought by the child, without being
influenced in any way, are connected with the problem which, for
theoretical reasons, was suggested by ourselves. I know well that the
innumerable cases, published in our psychoanalytic literature, where the
patients have certainly not been influenced, have not prevented the
critics’ contention, that we suggest our own interpretations to our
patients. This case will not, therefore, convince anyone who is
determined to find crude mistakes or, much worse still—fabrications.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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