Sigmund Freud and Lou Andreas-Salome Letters

by Lou Andreas-Salomé, Sigmund Freud

Freud’s letters contain revealing commentaries on his working methods, his concept of narcissism, and his interpretation of Moses, and they treat the themes that preoccupied him in old age: death, religion, war. Frau Andreas’s topic include her relationship to Rilke, and her reaction to his death, and the psychology of the artist. Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937) was a writer and disciple of Freud who became a practicing analyst. For over two decades she and Freud kept up an intensive correspondence. Freud found in her a perceptive appreciater and amplifier of his ideas, and Frau Andreas found him a sympathetic critic of her own. Their exchanges on theoretical topics and clinical experiences, their admiring friendship, and the glimpses of their personalities make this collection invaluable for readers interested in the history of psychoanalysis. The book includes an introduction and notes by Ernst Pfeiffer, Lou Andreas-Salomé’s literary executor.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Lou Andreas-Salomé (née Louise von Salomé or Luíza Gustavovna Salomé) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia to parents of French Huguenot and northern German descent. Her diverse intellectual interests led to friendships with an astounding array of luminaries, including Nietzsche, Wagner, Freud, and Rilke.

Andreas-Salomé was a prolific author, writing several plays, essays and more than a dozen novels. It was Andreas-Salome who began calling Rilke "Rainer" instead of "René." Her Hymn to Life so deeply impressed Nietzsche that he was moved to set it to music. She was one of the first female psychoanalysts (a career she maintained until a year before her death) and also one of the first women to write on female sexuality. Her book, Lebensrückblick, written toward the end of her life, is based on her memories as a liberated woman.

Reviews

[Emily Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably only the serious Freudian devotees will get into this book but there are some pretty interesting tidbits even for the reader who isn't a psychoanalyst. First, that Freud makes jokes in his letters. I wasn't expecting that. Second, that he treated Andreas-Salome as an equal - as a friend and colleague. Third, I found it positively hilarious how they discussed articles like Andreas-Salome's "The anal and the sexual" so dispassionately. The long treatises on psychoanalysis weren't terribly compelling for me but probably some people dig that stuff.
One thing that stuck out for me from one of Lou Andreas Salome's letters and also broke my heart:

"I shrink from publishing books which are the product of imagination (of which I already have eight in our bank safe - to the disappointment of our present-day marauders who would reckon on finding jewels there!) - and this from pure lack of ambition (a great lack, but one which must be allowed to us womenfolk, for why should we bother with ambition?)"

This is from a woman who was Rilke's lover, was loved by Nietzche, a number of other philosophers and a great friend of Freud. She's clearly brilliant and wrote EIGHT books, none of which are available to read. Maybe they were terrible. But I doubt it. But even if they were, because she was a woman, she never had the opportunity to learn and fail and get better. Rilke is pretty uninspiring in his early years, too - but he got all kinds of help and encouragement from people like Andreas-Salome.
And in so many fields this sort of unbalanced scale continues. The male theatre directors who started when I did have largely all found a measure of success, the female ones are mostly continuing to labor in the same ghettos. Sure, not all their work is amazing. Not all my work is amazing. But neither was the work of those male directors in the beginning. This quote from Andreas-Salome highlights for me how what I long for most for female artists is the opportunity to fail and fail with support and encouragement so that they can go on and publish those eight books locked in a bank safe.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is difficult to imagine who would like this as much as I did.

[Maher Razouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

العزيزه لو

باستدراكك الحاد المعتاد، ربما تكوني قد خمنت سبب تأخري في الرد على رسالتك. أخبرتك ابنتي آنّا بالفعل أنني أعمل على شيء ما، واليوم كتبت الجملة الأخيرة وأنهيت العمل. يتناول العمل : المدنية، والشعور بالذنب، والسعادة، ومواضيع رفيعة مماثلة، ويبدو لي، وبلا شك، أنه فائض عن الحاجة - على عكس الأعمال السابقة التي نشأت دائمًا من ضرورة داخلية ما. ولكن ماذا يمكنني أن أفعل بخلاف ذلك؟ لا يمكن للمرء أن يدخن ويلعب الورق طوال اليوم، ولم يعد لدي القدرة على المشي بشكل جيد، ومعظم ما يوجد للقراءة لم يعد يهمني. لذا كتبت، وبهذه الطريقة مر الوقت بسرور تام. أثناء كتابتي لهذا العمل، اكتشفت من جديد بعض الحقائق الأكثر تفاهة!!

من #سيغموند_فرويد إلى #لو_سالومي

[محمد جلال · Rating 4 out of 5]

شكراً للأستاذ ماهر على هذه الترجمة التي عرفتنا أكثر عن قرب بفروبد وسالومي، ولعل هذه الرسائل تفتح باب الأمل نحو نقل المزيد من فكر لو سالومي للعربية …

[Chu Qiao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful written letters.

[أحمد جيو حسن · Rating 5 out of 5]

ما هي الهدايا الجديدة التي جلبتها الحياة؟ معظمها أشياء سلبية، خسائر أيضًا، بما في ذلك فقدان الأشخاص الذين نحبهم.