Society and Psychoanalysis - Multiple Perspectives on Freud and his Era

A lecture series with Mitchell Ash, Daniela Finzi, Richard Lein, Johann Lughofer, Elana Shapira, Klaus Taschwer, and Sabine Schlüter.

Around 1900, economic and social changes fostered deepening political and cultural conflicts. Emancipatory movements and mass phenomena demanded new approaches. Vienna was culturally highly complex and politically and socially divided. Religion and social conventions ceased to provide sufficient orientation. Mass movements and political demagogues characterized the public space.

Psychoanalysis offered new ways of dealing with actual problems and found its way not only into psychiatry, into art, literature, and music but also into the emerging social sciences and political analysis. This was a radical reaction against traditional views of the world.

Psychoanalysis would combine and elaborate developments that had been around since the 18th century. The scientific exploration of intimate emotions and of areas that were once taboo – like infantile sexuality or the profane foundation of religion and the functioning of propaganda – was considered scandalous but nevertheless gained a wide notoriety and eventually revealed dimensions of human behavior and cultural life commonly denied or concealed.

In this course we want to combine a look at the history of human sciences with an exploration of developments in the fields of society, politics and culture.

This lecture series will be held by Richard Lein, who also serves as course coordinator, Johann Georg Lughofer, and Elana Shapira. Additional guest lectures will be given by Mitchell Ash, Daniela Finzi, Sabine Schlüter and Klaus Taschwer.

Requirements: Attendance and participation in class discussion constitute 30%, a short paper 30% and a written final exam 40% of the grade.