Barbara Low and Sabina Spielrein: Misrepresentations of Their Works in the History of Psychoanalysis

Abstract

Freud’s references to Barbara Low’s Nirvana principle and Sabina Spielrein’s destructive instinct in Beyond the pleasure principle shaped how their works were later perceived in psychoanalytic historiography. This article examines this circumstance as exemplary of a predominant Freud-centred viewpoint that can give rise to considerable distortions concerning what one omits and what one emphasizes in the history of psychoanalysis. The objective here is to analyse these distortions and appraise their implications for historical research in this field. For this purpose, we first review the context in which Freud refers to Low and Spielrein in 1920. Next, we re-examine their respective careers and seek to delineate a broader appraisal, considering their writings and other available sources and scholarship. In conclusion, the methodological issues highlighted by this reassessment are briefly discussed.