FREUDIANISM

Freud's Idea

Sigmund Freud's theories enjoyed great popularity in the 1920s. Aspects of his work made their way into everyday conversation, journalism, and literature. Before his time, psychology had been overwhelmingly concerned with the intellect, regarding conscious perceptions and ideas as the fundamental factors of mental health. In opposition to this focus on the surface of the mind, Freud claimed that "subconscious" urges, desires, and inhibitions dominated human behavior. According to his theories, traumas suffered in childhood were often forgotten or "repressed" by the conscious mind only to dominate the subconscious, manifesting themselves in neurotic behavior or even serious mental illness. The practical goal of Freud's psychoanalytic method was to cure mental illness by discovering its hidden causes, which, when brought to the surface, could be addressed and resolved.

Freudianism's Vogue in the 1920s

Many people from nonscientific backgrounds were fascinated by the idea of searching for the subconscious causes of their thoughts and actions. Few laypeople, however, actually read Freud. Most often they took their information from one of the many accessible summaries of Freud's work that were available by 1920. Such summaries tended to reduce and distort the original for the mass audience. One successful popularizer was André Tridon, who in 1921 presented a series of lectures in the United States on Freudian psychoanalysis. The simplicity of his talks prompted H. L. Mencken to comment sarcastically that "even a college professor or politician can understand Tridon on 'Psychoanalysis.' "

Freudianism by the Masses

By the 1920s such Freudian terms as repression, sublimation, and complex were in general usage, wielded by citizens who were otherwise ignorant of the intricacies of Freud's theories. Engaging in small talk at parties, people often sought to psychoanalyze one another, to discover the subconscious motivations of themselves and their friends. In this receptive atmosphere, such a concept as personality typing (developed by Carl G. Jung, an early disciple of Freud) was turned into a popular game in which people calculated their own type on the basis of forty simple questions. The game included for comparison the personality types of various celebrities who had taken the test.

Critics on Popularity

Such popularity based on accessible catchphrases and ill-understood bits of sophisticated ideas raised objections. Freud himself believed that the immense popularity of his theories was a liability rather than an asset. He felt that laypeople grabbed at the exciting aspects of his ideas, made simple by summaries that omitted complexities, and applied them recklessly and indiscriminately. This viewpoint was shared by many social critics of the period. Critics of Freudianism predominantly chose to attack the popularity of his ideas rather than the scientific validity of the concepts themselves. Within the field of professional psychology, rigorous debate raged over Freud's work, but social commentators tended to reserve their ridicule for amateurs who appropriated ideas and methods that they did not fully understand. Karl Menninger, for instance, claimed that regardless of its scientific accuracy psychoanalysis had "suffered … at the hands of those amateurs who think or pretend that they understand it well enough to apply its principles."

Critics on Vulgarity

Freudianism's critics were disturbed by more than what they perceived as it vulgar accessibility. Freud's emphasis on sexual repression as a cause of neurosis also offended many sensibilities. Many commentators claimed that by citing the harmful effects of sexual repression, Freudians were encouraging immoral, licentious behavior. Such critics believed that the alleged excesses of the 1920s could be accounted for this way. There was also a mistrust of the hidden, esoteric nature of psychoanalysis's conception of the subconscious. Anti-Freudians were suspicious of attempts to look for obscure motivations for abnormal behavior that might have a simple, obvious cause.

Sources:

Sigmund Freud, Delusion and Dream, translated by Helen M. Downey (New York: Moffatt, 1917);

Freud, Dream Psychology; Psychoanalysis for Beginners (New York: J. A. McCann, 1921);

Freud, A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis (New York: Boni & Liveright, 1920);

Freud, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (New York: Boni & Liveright, 1922);

J. C. Furnas, Great Times: An Informal Social History of the United States (New York: Putnam, 1974);

Frederick Hoffman, The Twenties: American Writing in the Postwar Decade (New York: Viking, 1955).