The Theory of PsychoanalysisJung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Science
The Theory of Psychoanalysis
Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Neuroses; Psychoanalysis; Psychology, Pathological; Sex
each other’s bodies, and trampled with their legs.
Whoever has read the analyses of children published by Freud and myself
will observe the same “leit-motif” of trampling; to this must be
attributed a sexual undercurrent. This conception demonstrated in our
former work agrees with the next association of our little patient: “I
should prefer a real child to a doll.”
This most remarkable material brought by the child in connection with
the phantasy of the stork, refers to typical childish attempts at the
sexual theory, and betrays where we have to look for the actual
phantasies of the child.
It is of interest to know, that this “motive of trampling” can be
illustrated through mythology. I have brought together the proofs in my
work on the libido theory. The utilization of these early infantile
phantasies in the dream, the existence of the paramnesia of the
bicyclist, and the expectation expressed by the motive of the Sleeping
Beauty show that the interests of the child dwell chiefly on certain
problems which must be solved. Probably the fact that the libido has
been attracted by the problem of generation has been the reason of her
lack of attention at school, through which she fell behind. This problem
is very often seen in girls between the ages of twelve and thirteen. I
could demonstrate this to you by some special cases published under the
title of “Beitrag zur Psychologie des Gerüchtes” in the Zentralblatt für
Psychoanalyse. The frequent occurrence of the problem at this age is the
cause of the indecent talk among all sorts of children and the attempts
at mutual enlightenment, which are naturally far from beautiful, and
which so very often spoil the child’s imagination. Not the most careful
protection can prevent children from some day discovering the great
secret, and then probably in the dirtiest way. Therefore it would be
much better if children could learn about certain important secrets of
life in a clean way and at suitable times, so that they would not need
to be enlightened by their playmates, too often in very ugly ways.
In the eighth interview the little girl began by remarking that she had
understood perfectly why it was still impossible for her to have a child
and therefore she had renounced all idea of it. But she does not make a
good impression this time. We get to know that she has told her teacher
a falsehood. She had been late to school, and told her teacher that she
was late because she was obliged to accompany her father. But in
reality, she had been lazy, got up too late and was thus late for
school. She told a lie, and was afraid of losing the teacher’s favor by
telling the truth. This sudden moral defect in our little patient
requires an explanation. According to the fundamentals of
psychoanalysis, this sudden and striking weakness can only follow from
the patient’s not drawing the logical consequences from the analysis but
rather looking for other easier possibilities.
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