Abstract
In his self-portrayal Selbstdarstellung (2011 [1924]), Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) underlines the Jewish origin and the exodus that characterizes his family: the road that leads to Vienna and later ends in London. The signs of exile in Freud's writings strengthen the connection to Judaism, an indication of the paternal inheritance. The episode “Cap in the Mud”, described in Interpretation of Dreams (2019 [1900]FREUD, Sigmund. A interpretação dos sonhos. Obras completas. v. 4. Trad. Paulo César de Souza. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras , 2019 [1900].) as the humiliation of Freud's father Jacob seen through the eyes of a child who aspired to dreams of greatness, as well as the gift of the Old Testament received from his father (DERRIDA 2001DERRIDA, Jacques. Mal de arquivo: uma impressão freudiana. Trad. Claudia de Morais Rego. Relume Dumará: Rio de Janeiro, 2001.; YERUSHALMI 1992YERUSHALMI, Yosef Hayim. O moisés de Freud: judaísmo terminável e interminável. Rio de Janeiro: Imago, 1992.), both open doors to other central issues in Freudian theories. The father, as well as his Jewish condition (FUKS 2000FUKS, Betty B. Freud e a Judeidade: a vocação do exílio. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 2000.), refer to Freud's reflections on religion, in particular in the works Totem & Taboo (2012 [1913]FREUD, Sigmund. Totem e Tabu, Contribuição à história do movimento psicanalítico e outros textos. Obras completas. v. 11. Trad. Paulo César de Souza. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras , 2012 [1912-1914].), The Future of an Illusion (2014 [1927]FREUD, Sigmund. O futuro de uma ilusão e outros textos. Obras completas. v. 17. Trad. Paulo César de Souza. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras , 2014 [1926-1929].), and Moses and Monotheism (2018 [1939]FREUD, Sigmund. Moisés e o monoteísmo, Compêndio de psicanálise e outros textos. Obras completas. v. 19. Trad. Paulo César de Souza. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras , 2018 [1937-1939].). Of these, Freud's Moses is the last text whose roots are related to the Jewish people. Other themes, such as anti-Semitism, the advantages of the “universalist theses” of Jewish intellectuality, (SAID 2004SAID, Edward W. Freud e os não-europeus. Trad. Arlene Clemesha. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2004.), and isolation and resistance (GAY 1990GAY, Peter. Sigmund Freud: um alemão e seus dissabores. In: SOUZA, Paulo César et alii (Orgs.). Sigmund Freud e O Gabinete do Dr Lacan. 2. ed. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1990, 1-71.), are equally important for psychoanalytic studies. To be a Jew means to be The Other and consequently to cross the psychoanalytic (unknown / non-) territory: the territory of the drive, of listening to hysterics, of children´s sexuality, of the insistence on neurosis, of the value of dreams.
Keywords:
Paternal inheritance; Judaism; “Jewish condition”; Religion