Wolfenstein, E.V. (1983). Soundings. Psychohistorical and Psycholiterary: By Rudolph Binion. New York: The Psychohistory Press, 1981. 164 pp.. Psychoanal Q., 52:464-469.

Welcome to PEP Web!

Viewing the full text of this document requires a subscription to PEP Web.

If you are coming in from a university from a registered IP address or secure referral page you should not need to log in. Contact your university librarian in the event of problems.

If you have a personal subscription on your own account or through a Society or Institute please put your username and password in the box below. Any difficulties should be reported to your group administrator.

Username:
Password:

Can't remember your username and/or password? If you have forgotten your username and/or password please click here and log in to the PaDS database. Once there you need to fill in your email address (this must be the email address that PEP has on record for you) and click "Send." Your username and password will be sent to this email address within a few minutes. If this does not work for you please contact your group organizer.

Athens user? Login here.

Not already a subscriber? Order a subscription today.

(1983). Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 52:464-469

Soundings. Psychohistorical and Psycholiterary: By Rudolph Binion. New York: The Psychohistory Press, 1981. 164 pp.

Review by: Eugene Victor Wolfenstein Author Information

This volume contains six essays, written between 1959 and 1978 on the following topics: Kafka's The Metamorphosis; King Leopold III and Belgian neutrality prior to World War II; the deaths of Ludwig II of Bavaria, Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria-Hungary (at Mayerling), and Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary (at Sarajevo); Hitler's policy of eastward expansion; doing psychohistory; and several Pirandello plays, most notably, Six Characters in Search of an Author. In the publisher's and, I gather, Binion's opinion, the essays "retrace the author's development in historical and literary scholarship from applied Freudianism to direct psychohistorical inquiry unencumbered by clinical models." In my own judgment, Binion takes one step forward, two steps back.

The Kafka essay appears to be an exercise in "applied Freudianism." Binion argues that Gregor Samsa has not been literally transformed into a bug, but rather is suffering from a psychotic delusion

- 464 -

of bein

[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.]
Copyright © 2010, Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing. Help | About | Report a Problem

WARNING! This text is printed for the personal use of the subscriber to PEP Web and is copyright to the Journal in which it originally appeared. It is illegal to copy, distribute or circulate it in any form whatsoever.