Document Detail


Freud's different versions of forgetting 'Signorelli': rhetoric and repression.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  10967771     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The author examines Freud's three written accounts of his forgetting of the name 'Signorelli'. The three texts--a letter to Fliess, an early scientific article and a chapter in 'The Psychopathology of Everyday Life'--contain significant differences that are examined in detail. In describing the incident, Freud made successive changes that were matched to his theoretical explanations for the forgetting. More than this, close examination of the differences between the versions offers clues about Freud's own personal feelings that he was seeking to avoid exposing to his readers, while discussing the reasons for his slip of memory. It is suggested that Freud's thoughts are likely to have included his ambivalent feelings towards the death of his father, his sense of Jewishness and his relations with his sister-in-law, with whom he had been travelling when he had seen Signorelli's frescoes at Orvieto. Freud's other associations with Orvieto are examined. It is argued that the different versions of the episode represent a means by which Freud himself repressed uncomfortable thoughts exposed during his self-analysis. As such, this paper provides evidence for a discursive interpretation of repression.
Authors:
M Billig
Publication Detail:
Type:  Biography; Historical Article; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The International journal of psycho-analysis     Volume:  81 ( Pt 3)     ISSN:  0020-7578     ISO Abbreviation:  Int J Psychoanal     Publication Date:  2000 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2000-12-04     Completed Date:  2001-01-04     Revised Date:  2004-11-17    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  2985179R     Medline TA:  Int J Psychoanal     Country:  ENGLAND    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  483-98     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Communication
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Humans
Memory*
Psychoanalysis / history*
Religion and Psychology
Self Assessment (Psychology)*
Personal Name Subject
Personal Name Subject:
S Freud

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