The question of objectivity in Freud’s biographic studies

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35699/1676-1669.2019.6610

Keywords:

biography, Sigmund Freud, methodology

Abstract

The problem of objectivity in the writing of a biography has always haunted biographers. In the case of Freud’s biographic studies, this question is even more complex, since his first biographers were also psychoanalysts who tried to combine the biographic method with psychoanalysis. We initially discuss the relation of the biographer with his subject and the degree of objectivity that is possible to obtain when one narrates the life of another. The matter of transference and the distortions it introduces in the text is also approached. Next, we follow Freud’s biographers, going through texts since 1923 to comprehend how they work with the challenges of the biographer-biographed relation.

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Author Biographies

Marcus Vinicius Neto Silva, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Psicólogo (Newton Paiva), especialista em Teoria Psicanalítica (UFMG), mestre em Estudos Psicanalíticos (UFMG), doutorando em Estudos Psicanalíticos (UFMG).

Guilherme Massara Rocha, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Psicanalista, Prof.Adjunto do Departamento de Psicologia da UFMG. Membro da International Society of
Philosophy and Psychoanalysis e da Fédération Européenne de Psychanalyse (FEDEPSY).

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Published

2019-10-04

How to Cite

Silva, M. V. N., & Rocha, G. M. (2019). The question of objectivity in Freud’s biographic studies. Memorandum: Memory and History in Psychology, 36, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.35699/1676-1669.2019.6610

Issue

Vol. 36 (2019)

Section

Articles

License

The works published in the electronic journal Memorandum: Memory and history in Psychology are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows sharing with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.