(1927). International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 8:47-52 Some Psycho-Analytical Notes on Negation In a recent paper Freud pointed out that a negative judgement was the intellectual substitute for repression; the 'Not', he said, in which such a judgement was expressed was the hall mark of repression—a certificate of origin, as it were, like 'Made in Germany'. There is, however, a corollary to this proposition—the proof of which is a matter of everyday experience—that an assertion or over-emphasized positive statement indicates dissent in the unconscious. I can think of three main methods by which statements are found to be over-emphasized in this suspicious way, which occur frequently both within the psycho-analytic situation and outside it. The first is direct over-emphasis. By this I mean stating a thought in a specially arresting manner, making use of a loud voice or large print or other special conditions, or providing gratuitous information. For example, a patient came to be examined in hospital after being told by his own doctor that there w [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
