Totem And Taboo
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''Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics'', or ''Totem and Taboo: Some Points of Agreement between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics'' (), is a 1913 book by
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 ...
, the founder of
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 ...
, in which the author applies his work to the fields of
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
,
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
, and the study of religion. It is a collection of four essays inspired by the work of Wilhelm Wundt and Carl Jung and first published in the journal '' Imago'' (1912–13): "The Horror of Incest", "Taboo and Emotional Ambivalence", "Animism, Magic and the Omnipotence of Thoughts", and "The Return of Totemism in Childhood". Though ''Totem and Taboo'' has been seen as one of the classics of anthropology, comparable to Edward Burnett Tylor's '' Primitive Culture'' (1871) and Sir
James George Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folkloristJosephson-Storm (2017), Chapter 5. influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. ...
's '' The Golden Bough'' (1890), the work is now hotly debated by anthropologists. The cultural anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber was an early critic of ''Totem and Taboo'', publishing a critique of the work in 1920. Some authors have seen redeeming value in the work.


Background

Freud, who had a longstanding interest in
social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...
and was devoted to the study of
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and
prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins   million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
, wrote that the work of Wilhelm Wundt and Carl Jung provided him with his "first stimulus" to write the essays included in ''Totem and Taboo''. The work was translated twice into English, first by Abraham Brill and later by James Strachey. Freud was influenced by the work of
James George Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folkloristJosephson-Storm (2017), Chapter 5. influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. ...
, including '' The Golden Bough'' (1890).


Summary


Chapter 1

"The Horror of Incest" concerns incest taboos adopted by societies believing in totemism. Freud examines the system of Totemism among
Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
. Every clan has a totem (usually an animal, sometimes a plant or force of nature) and people are not allowed to marry those with the same totem as themselves. Freud examines this practice as preventing against incest. The totem is passed down hereditarily, either through the father or the mother. The relationship of father is also not just his father, but every man in the clan that, hypothetically, could have been his father. He relates this to the idea of young children calling all of their parents' friends aunts and uncles. There are also further marriage classes, sometimes as many as eight, that group the totems together, and therefore limit a man's choice of partners. He also talks about the widespread practices amongst the cultures of the Pacific Islands and Africa of avoidance. Many cultures do not allow brothers and sisters to interact in any way, generally after puberty. Men are not allowed to be alone with their mothers-in-law or say each other's names. He explains this by saying that after a certain age parents often live through their children to endure their marriage and that mothers-in-law may become overly attached to their son-in-law. Similar restrictions exist between a father and daughter, but they only exist from puberty until engagement.


Chapter 2

In "Taboo and emotional ambivalence," Freud considers the relationship of taboos to totemism. Freud uses his concepts projection and ambivalence, developed during his work with neurotic patients in Vienna, to discuss the relationship between taboo and totemism. Like neurotics, 'primitive' people feel ambivalent about most people in their lives, but will not admit this consciously to themselves. They will not admit that, as much as they love their mother, there are things about her that they hate. The suppressed part of this ambivalence (the hate parts) are projected onto others. In the case of natives, the hateful parts are projected onto the totem, as in: 'I did not want my mother to die; the totem wanted her to die.' Freud expands this idea of ambivalence to include the relationship of citizens to their ruler. In ceremonies surrounding kings, which are often quite violent (such as the king starving himself in the woods for a few weeks), he considers two levels that are functioning to be the "ostensible" (i.e., the king is being honored) and the "actual" (i.e., the king is being tortured). He uses examples to illustrate the taboos on rulers. He says that the kings of Ireland were subject to restrictions such as not being able to go to certain towns or on certain days of the week.


Chapter 3

In "Animism, Magic and the Omnipotence of Thought" Freud examines the animism and narcissistic phase associated with a primitive understanding of the universe and early libidinal development. A belief in magic and sorcery derives from an overvaluation of psychical acts, whereby the structural conditions of mind are transposed onto the world: this overvaluation survives in both primitive men and neurotics. The animistic mode of thinking is governed by an "omnipotence of thoughts", a projection of inner mental life onto the external world. This imaginary construction of reality is also discernible in obsessive thinking,
delusional disorder Delusional disorder, traditionally synonymous with paranoia, is a mental illness in which a person has delusions, but with no accompanying prominent hallucinations, thought disorder, mood disorder, or significant flattening of affect. Ameri ...
s and phobias. Freud comments that the omnipotence of thoughts has been retained in the magical realm of art. The last part of the essay concludes the relationship between magic (paranormal),
superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...
and taboo, arguing that the practices of animism are merely a cover up of instinctual repression (Freud).


Chapter 4

In "The Return of Totemism in Childhood" Freud combines one of
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
's more speculative theories about the arrangements of early human societies (a single alpha-male surrounded by a harem of females, similar to the arrangement of gorilla groupings) with the theory of the sacrifice ritual taken from William Robertson Smith to conclude that the origins of totemism lie in a singular event, when a band of prehistoric brothers expelled from the alpha-male group returned to kill their father, whom they both feared and respected. In this respect, Freud located the beginnings of the Oedipus complex at the origins of human society, and postulated that all religion was in effect an extended and collective form of guilt and ambivalence to cope with the killing of the father figure (which he saw as the true original sin).


Reception


Early reviews

In 1914, ''Totem and Taboo'' received a negative review from Carl Furtmüller in ''Zentralblatt für Psychologie und Psychotherapie''. Other reviews written between 1912 and 1920 include those by the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel in ''Zentralblatt für Psychologie und Psychotherapie'', the neurologist and psychiatrist William Alanson White in ''Psychoanalytic Review'', the biographer Francis Hackett in ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'', the psychologist William McDougall in ''
Mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...
'', and the anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber in '' American Anthropologist''. Furtmüller wrote that the work showed Freud's increasing "isolation from the scientific world". He accused Freud of ignoring criticisms directed against his theories, and objected to Freud's basing his investigations on the theory of the Oedipus complex. He credited Freud with providing a "compact survey" of the confusing state of research into totemism, but believed that it was difficult for psychoanalysts to deal with the subject because they could not base their conclusions on "first-hand experience", and that Freud attached too much importance to "the belief of totemistic acolytes that they are descendants of the totem animal". He criticized Freud's attempt to explain totemism through parallels with the "psychological life" of children, arguing that the analytical results Freud employed were of questionable accuracy and did little to provide a "solution of the problem of totemism", and that Freud failed to explain why the totem was represented as an animal. He also considered Freud wrong to consider exogamy one of the most important features of totemism. Though believing that Freud showed "sharp wit", he accused him of engaging in "the free play of fantasy" where "logical argumentation" was needed and of misunderstanding the work of Darwin. He wrote that Freud explained morality as the "product of a social contract" and compared the Oedipus complex to the "original sin of the human race".


Views of anthropologists

''Totem and Taboo'' became widely known in the United States by the end of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. According to Annemarie De Waal Malefijt, the book produced "angry reactions" from anthropologists even on the basis of its subtitle alone. Anthropologist critics of ''Totem and Taboo'' included Kroeber, who described Freud as a "gallant and stimulating adventurer into ethnology" but rejected the idea that Freud's theories could explain social origins and evolutionary phases, Franz Boas, who considered Freud's method in ''Totem and Taboo'' one-sided and useless for advancing understanding of cultural development, and Robert Ranulph Marett, who referred to the work as a "just-so story".
Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...
criticized ''Totem and Taboo'' in his ''The Elementary Structures of Kinship'' (1948). Kroeber published a reassessment of ''Totem and Taboo'' in 1952. Marvin Harris described ''Totem and Taboo'' as representative of what Boas's followers regarded as "the worst form of evolutionary speculation", criticizing "the grandiosity of its compass, the flimsiness of its evidence ... the generality of its conclusions" and its "anachronistic framework". In his view, nothing about the work prepared "orthodox Freudians" to deal with the variety of culturally determined personality structures revealed by the work of Bronisław Malinowski, Margaret Mead, and Ruth Benedict. Peter Farb wrote that ''Totem and Taboo'' "demonstrates the lengths to which a theorist will go to find an explanation" for totemism, adding that despite their disagreements on other issues, anthropologists by 1968 concurred that the work is "totally discredited".


Views of psychoanalysts

Géza Róheim, an anthropologist as well as a psychoanalyst, considered ''Totem and Taboo'' one of the great landmarks in the history of anthropology, comparable only to Edward Burnett Tylor's ''Primitive Culture'' (1871) and Sir James George Frazer's ''The Golden Bough'' (1890). Róheim described ''Totem and Taboo'' as an "epoch-making work" in both anthropology and the social sciences generally. Róheim eventually abandoned the assumptions of ''Totem and Taboo'', but continued to regard it as a classic, the work that created psychoanalytic anthropology. Wilhelm Reich, following Johann Jakob Bachofen and other authors, maintained that early human societies were matriarchies and that this ruled out Freud's account of the origins of civilization in ''Totem and Taboo''. Reich argued that Freud's theory that the Oedipus complex was a prime factor in the development of civilization ignored the cultural relativity of the Oedipus complex, which, drawing on the work of Malinowski, he saw as only a result of the patriarchal order. Freud himself considered "The Return of Totemism in Childhood" his best-written work, and ''Totem and Taboo'' as a whole remained one of his favorite works.


Other responses

The classicist Jane Ellen Harrison called ''Totem and Taboo'' one of the most important works in her intellectual life. Harrison's work ''Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion'' (1912) has been compared to ''Totem and Taboo'', since Harrison and Freud both attempted to find a universal mechanism that would account for the origins of religion. The novelist
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
wrote that ''Totem and Taboo'' had made a stronger impression on him than any of Freud's other works, and that of all Freud's works it had the greatest artistic merit. The feminist Simone de Beauvoir criticized ''Totem and Taboo'' in '' The Second Sex'' (1949), writing that Freud is forced to "invent strange fictions" to explain the passage from "the individual to the society"; she saw the inability to explain this transition as a failing of psychoanalysis. Georges Bataille argued that Freud was misled by the "superficial knowledge of ethnographical data" typical of his time into concluding that the taboo on touching corpses generally countered a desire to touch them. The classicist Norman O. Brown criticized the work in '' Life Against Death'' (1959), writing that Freud correlates psycho-sexual stages of development with stages of history, thereby seeing history as a "process of growing up". Brown saw this view as a "residue of eighteenth-century optimism and rationalism", and found it inadequate as both history and psychoanalysis. The mythologist Joseph Campbell considered Freud's ''Totem and Taboo'' and Jung's '' Psychology of the Unconscious'' (1912) the two key works that initiated the systematic interpretation of ethnological materials through insights gained through the study of neurotic individuals. The critic René Girard wrote in '' Violence and the Sacred'' (1972) that, despite the rejection of ''Totem and Taboo'' by "contemporary criticism", its concept of collective murder is close to the themes of his own work. The historian Peter Gay suggested in '' Freud: A Life for Our Time'' (1988) that in ''Totem and Taboo'' Freud made conjectures more ingenious than those of the philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
. Gay observed that ''Totem and Taboo'' was in part an attempt by Freud to outdo his rival Jung, and that the work is full of evidence that "Freud's current combats reverberated with his past history, conscious and unconscious". The critic
Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". Af ...
asserted in '' The American Religion'' (1992) that ''Totem and Taboo'' has no greater acceptance among anthropologists than does the Book of Mormon, and that there are parallels between the two works, such as a concern with polygamy. Richard Schechner criticized Freud for having assumed in ''Totem and Taboo'' that some humans are more "primitive" than others. The psychologist David P. Barash concluded that in ''Totem and Taboo'' Freud "combines idiosyncratic, almost crackpot fantasy with startling profundity and originality". Anthony Elliott argued that Freud's account of social and cultural organization suffers from limitations, and that, because of anthropological knowledge that became available subsequent to ''Totem and Taboo'', the theories Freud proposed there now have few advocates. Elliott wrote that "Freud's attempt to anchor the Oedipus complex in a foundational event displaces his crucial insights into the radically creative power of the human imagination", ascribing to real events "what are in fact products of fantasy". Elliott added that Freud should be credited with showing that "reality is not pre-given or natural", but rather structured by the social and technical frameworks fashioned by human beings, and that "individual subjectivity and society presuppose one another". Dominique Bourdin wrote that in ''Totem and Taboo'' Freud "develops an idea that clearly embarrasses the current psychoanalysts, but that is essential to the logic of Freudian thought: that of
Phylogenetics In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
". The philosopher Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen and the psychologist Sonu Shamdasani argued that in ''Totem and Taboo'' Freud applied to history "the same method of interpretation that he used in the privacy of his office to 'reconstruct' his patients' forgotten and repressed memories".


See also

* Guy Rosolato * Little Arpad * Psychoanalytic sociology


References


External links

*
''Totem und Taboo'' German edition, Open Library
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Totem And Taboo 1913 non-fiction books Anthropology books Books by Sigmund Freud Religious studies books Taboo