''The Freud/Jung Letters: The Correspondence between Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung'' is a book, edited by William McGuire and first published by
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
in 1974, that compiles the 360 letters that
psychoanalysts
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk ther ...
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
and
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...
wrote to each other from 1906 until their break in 1914.
Lionel Trilling
Lionel Mordecai Trilling (July 4, 1905 – November 5, 1975) was an American literary critic, short story writer, essayist, and teacher. He was one of the leading U.S. critics of the 20th century who analyzed the contemporary cultural, social, ...
wrote in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', "In no way does it disappoint the large expectation it has naturally aroused," and (apart from minor reservations about some of the translations) the quality of the edition is widely recognised.
Thematics
Besides providing a wealth of material about both the theoretical and the institutional developments of early
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
, the correspondence also charts the intense relationship between Freud and Jung during the period in question. Where Jung wrote of his "unconditional veneration" for Freud, the latter in turn claimed that "Your person has filled with confidence in the future." What has been seen as a mixture of
narcissistic
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...
idealisation and
grandiosity
In psychology, grandiosity is a sense of superiority, uniqueness, or invulnerability that is unrealistic and not based on personal capability. It may be expressed by exaggerated beliefs regarding one's abilities, the belief that few other peopl ...
on the part of both men, combined with the persisting theoretical differences of substance over the
libido
In psychology, libido (; ) is psychic drive or energy, usually conceived of as sexual in nature, but sometimes conceived of as including other forms of desire. The term ''libido'' was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneering origin ...
theory in particular, led ultimately to the break-up of the relationshipgiving the shape of the correspondence something of the appearance of a classic
tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
.
[S. and J. Stein, ''Psychotherapy in Practice'' (2000) p. 268]
See also
References
External links
Princeton University Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freud Jung Letters
Sigmund Freud
Carl Jung