La vie sexuelle

by Sigmund Freud

Les textes présentés dans ce recueil viennent compléter, pour le lecteur français, la connaissance qu'il peut acquérir de la théorie freudienne de la sexualité à travers toute une série d'ouvrages majeurs dont le plus indispensable reste évidemment les Trois essais sur la théorie de la sexualité. Ici, on ne trouvera pas de textes synthétiques présentant la doctrine sous une forme qui se veut relativement achevée, mais des articles plus brefs et à visée plus partielle, où se marque chaque fois un temps de la recherche et de la découverte. On retrouvera aisément, dans tel ou tel d'entre eux, l'une des deux dimensions majeures : le monde des représentations sexuelles et l'exploration de la sexualité dans son rythme temporel. On percevra, nous l'espérons, que l'évolution de la sexualité individuelle que Freud cherche ainsi à retracer possède, dans l'économie de la psychanalyse, une toute autre portée que de constituer un chapitre (« développement affectif de l'enfant » par exemple) plus ou moins vraisemblable et plus ou moins bien systématisé de la psychologie génétique. ― Jean Laplanche ―

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Dr. Sigismund Freud (later changed to Sigmund) was a neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential—and controversial—minds of the 20th century.

In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885, Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up in private practice, specialising in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.

Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work 'The Interpretation of Dreams' was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.

In 1902, Freud was appointed Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories.

After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published 'The Ego and the Id', which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'.

In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freud's books. In 1938, shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna.

Freud had been diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23 September 1939.

Reviews

[Claudia Pincovski · Rating 3 out of 5]

aș fi vrut să înțeleg cum a ajuns la niște concluzii așa halucinante uneori

[Marina Nilsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quite interesting, yet also complicated read about Freud's thoughts on sexuality. I was not able to understand everything that he wrote about, but I was able to gain a very basic understanding on some aspects, for example his thoughts about psychosexual development. Something that is categorized into five different stages. These are

Stage 1: The oral stage (birth to 1 years age) The libido, sexual attraction, is focused on the mouth. The infant is subconsciously seeking out it's mother's breast for nourishment and this become their first exposure to sexual activity. This means that the first sexualobject, the object of sexual desire for a straight woman it is a man and vice versa, for both boys and girls came from the mother.

Stage 2: The anal stage (1 - 3 years of age) Emphasis is now put towards the anus. The child learns how to use the potty and thus it becomes subconsciously aware about the ability to poop, something that it tries to learn and understand through using a diaper and going potty training. Analsex is a thing, therefore being conscious of the anus's existence becomes the child's second exposure to sexual activity.

Stage 3: The phallic stage (3 - 6 years of age): The libido is now fixated on the biological sex of the child. Through this phase, the child, according to Freud, experiences what he refers to as 'The oidipuscomplex' for boys and 'The electracomplex' for girls in which the child develops a rivalry towards the parent of the same sex, as well as a sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex. These are subconscious and beyond the child's control, if I understand Freud correctly, and is a cornerstone for understanding future sexual development. The idéa of the oidipuscomplex comes from the Greek tragedy 'King Oidipus' written by Sophocles where the main character, King Oidipus, kills his father and marries his mother.

Stage 4: The latent stage (6 - pubertyage): During this phase of the child's life, the libido is dampened and put to the side for a while because the emphasis is now put towards the child developing important relationships with other people instead. It is all about forming meaningful connections with other people that does not include anyone from the family environment.

Stage 5: The genital stage (puberty - adultage): With the rise of puberty to adulthood, libido is re-introduced again into the child's life. But instead of seeking out a romantic and sexual relationship with one of the parents like in the phallic stage, the child now starts to grow romantic and sexual attraction towards people of the opposite sex.

Freud believed that homosexuality was an abnormity. He called it an inversion and he had very little understanding of homosexuality and what it actually means to be gay and lesbian. Therefore, his theories stem more from an observation of a cis-straight boy as he also didn't put as much emphasis on female sexuality. He dedicated two articles towards only explaining female sexuality and sexuality in girls, but most of his observations came from men. However, he does believe, at least to some degree, that every human being are innately born as bisexual, although he admits and is conscious that he doesn't have all the answers when it comes to sex and it's relation to stereotypical gender norms.

Freud's theories are, by my observation, culturally based. He was himself dealing with a lot of mental health issues therefore, his ability to understand and help his patients also relied heavily on his own understanding of himself. Freud's writing has been widely criticized by many authors and he does adopt idéas that he later changes his mind on and abandon. So while I do understand why his theories has been very helpful for understanding the conscious, pre-subconscious and subconscious mind of the human condition, it is best to read his theories with curiosity, an open mind and a grain of salt.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

În ultimii ani, am ajuns prin cercetări amănunţite la descoperirea faptului că factorii ce ţin de viaţa sexuală reprezintă cauza cea mai imediată şi semnificativă din punct de vedere practic a fiecărui caz de îmbolnăvire nevrotică. Această teorie nu este cu totul nouă; în etiologia nevrozelor, a fost acordată, dintotdeauna şi de către toţi autorii, o anumită importanţă factorilor sexuali; pentru multe curente subterane din medicină, vindecarea „tulburărilor sexuale“ şi a „fragilităţii nervoase“ au fost asociate întotdeauna într-o unică promisiune. Nu ar fi deci dificil de contestat originalitatea acestei teorii, dacă s-a renunţat deja la negarea valabilităţii ei. În câteva scurte articole, care au apărut în ultimii ani în „Neurologischen Zentralblatt“¹ (1894, 1895, 1896), în „Revue neurologique“² şi în „Wiener Klinischen Rundschau“³ (1895, 1896), am încercat să indic materialul şi punctele de vedere care oferă un suport ştiinţific teoriei „etiologiei sexuale a nevrozei“. O expunere detaliată nu a apărut încă, în esenţă pentru că, într-adevăr, de la efortul de a clarifica contextul cunoscut realmente, se ajunge la probleme mereu noi, pentru a căror rezolvare lipseşte pregătirea. În niciun caz însă nu mi se pare prematură încercarea de a îndrepta interesul medicului practician asupra raporturilor pe care eu le afirm, pentru ca el să se convingă de justeţea acestor afirmaţii şi de beneficiile pe care le-ar putea deriva din cunoaşterea lor în folosul îndeletnicirii lui medicale.

[Tiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great opening to the sexual theory in psychoanalysis.
Chp. 4,7,9,11.

« Le temps devant moi est limité ; il n’est plus tout entier épuisé en travail ; je n’ai plus d’aussi amples occasions de faire de nouvelles expériences. »

« Il n’est pas dans l’intention de la science d’effrayer ou de consoler. Mais je suis moi-même prêt à concéder volontiers que des conclusions d’une aussi grande portée que celles-ci devraient être établies sur une base plus large et que peut-être d’autres modalités du développement de l’humanité permettront de corriger les résultats obtenus à partir de celle que j’ai ici traitées isolément. »

[Caterina Butnaru · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non definisce il concetto di normalità