Culture Writer Rani Jadfa reviews Andrew Blauner’s On The Couch, finding it a comprehensive collection of intriguing theories surrounding psychoanalysis
On The Couch is a collection of 25 short essays, that delve into many aspects of Sigmund Freud. It stretches, twists and contorts the neurologist’s work in an act to discover if he still belongs in the modern day.
In one way or another, you would have come across Sigmund Freud – and you may not even know it. Whether that be through a Freudian slip of your unconscious desires, getting shivers down your spine watching a film (but not knowing why), or that one friend who keeps saying you want to sleep with your mother.
Freud was an Austrian neurologist and deemed the founder of psychoanalysis. Born in 1856, Freud has now become a cultural touchstone to society. However, this image has been constructed from (often incorrect) passing references and a hatred for his casual misogyny. Nevertheless, the prolific editor, Andrew Blauner (editor of eight previous anthologies) has hopes that this book will leave the reader ‘with a sense of Freud as a fully realized person, not an anachronism or a punch line, but instead a gateway to better understanding ourselves, one another, and our world’. After sinking my teeth into On The Couch, I have found that Blauner and the collections’ writers have succeeded in their mission.
On The Couch begins with Sarah Boxer’s complicated relationship with Freud, from his presence in her childhood up to her career as a writer and professional cartoonist.
On The Couch begins with Sarah Boxer’s complicated relationship with Freud, from his presence in her childhood up to her career as a writer and professional cartoonist. She addresses him as a literary scholar, leaning into his lack of coherency and how a metaphor convinced her of his talent. I admired her challenges against Freud: ‘Why are you so hard on Freud? And I responded: Why are you so easy on him?’ But at the end of the day, she commends the way one mind changed the world and how we see it, through his many complications.
‘Penis Envy’ by Jennifer Finney Boylan and ‘The Open-Armed, Beckoning Embrace’ by Thomas Lynch stand out from the collection of essays. Boylan is a transgender activist and outlines her journey as a transgender woman in alignment with Freud’s theory. She states that ‘as a woman born with [a penis], all I can say is, I know exactly what he meant. Why yes, I did feel myself unfairly treated.’ The essay came to a warming conclusion with her having ‘a vast sense of relief’ after her surgery as she was able to fully come into her own.
Lynch’s harrowing piece opens with the raw statement, ‘My daughter leapt to her death off the Golden Gate Bridge.’ Through his seamless intertwining of Freud’s ideas of the Death Drive, he divulges his daughter’s suffering through schizophrenia and depression, leading to her suicide, and talks of the effects of the event’s aftermath. Lynch draws upon Freud, Edgar Allen Poe and poetry to tell this story whilst still contributing to the discussion of the Death Drive.
Another commendable aspect of On The Couch is the continued acknowledgement of Freud’s flaws. Freud was many things, and a misogynist was one of them. He described ‘women [to] oppose change, receive passively, and add nothing of their own’[2]. But writers like Shelia Kohler and Casey Schwartz take the stories of the women in Freud’s life further than he ever did. Kohler talks about Ida Bauer, also known as Dora, who became the basis for Freud’s most famous case study. Kohler outlines the fulfilling life that Ida went on to live, describing her as ‘a fierce and formidable mother’ with ‘considerable intelligence, resourcefulness, and pluck’.
Every piece equally contributes to the discussion around the man that was Sigmund Freud.
Schwartz outlines the life of Freud’s daughter, Anne Freud, and her great contribution to society. Her research into child psychology led to her ensuring ‘nearly all the children in her nurseries were reunited with their families’ in the aftermath of the war as she learned of the traumatic long-term effects it could have on children.
Andrew Blauner’s On The Couch has brought together a fine number of writers; each one bringing their personal stories to elevate their academic writing and provide a new perspective. Every piece equally contributes to the discussion around the man that was Sigmund Freud.
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