Killing Freud: 20th Century Culture and the Death of Psychoanalysis

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Killing Freud takes the reader on a journey through the 20th century, tracing the work and influence of one of its greatest icons, Sigmund Freud. A devastating critique, the book ranges across the strange case of Anna O, the hysteria of Josef Breuer, the love of dogs, the Freud industry, the role of gossip and fiction, bad manners, pop psychology and French philosophy, figure skating on thin ice, and contemporary therapy culture. A map to the Freudian minefield and a masterful negotiation of high theory and low culture, Killing Freud is a witty and fearless revaluation of psychoanalysis and its real place in 20th century history. It will appeal to anyone curious about the life of the mind after the death of Freud. "Its erudition offers sure-fire caviar." The Independent, U.K. "A flamboyant and hilarious satire of one of our most revered cultural institutions, Killing Freud combines impeccable and truly original scholarship with great wit." Ikkel Borch-Jacobsen, author of The Freudian Subject and Remembering Anna O

Reviews

"'A flamboyant and hilarious satire of one of our most revered cultural institutions, Killing Freud combines impeccable and truly original scholarship with great wit. Todd Dufresne, a distinguished Freud scholar, has written a remarkable and delightful book which joyously affirms the death of psychoanalysis without trying to prove 'Why Freud Was Wrong'. People will read this book for the sheer fun of it, but they will also learn a lot about psychoanalysis and its role in twentieth-century culture at large.' Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, author of The Freudian Subject and Remembering Anna O; 'Killing Freud is a major attack on both the culture of theory and the culture of therapy, demonstrating that many of the most cherished truths of psychoanalysis are based upon misreadings, misunderstandings and blatant falsifications. Witty, provocative and admirably erudite, this is required reading for anyone with a critical - or in other words sceptical - concern for the history of psychoanalysis and the human sciences.' David Macey, author of The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory"

Author Bio

Todd Dufresne is Chair of the Dept of Philosophy at Lakehead University and is editor of Returns of the French Freud and Freud Under Analysis, and author of Tales From the Freudian Crypt.