Do I Have to Draw You a Picture? Sigmund Freud, Imagery, and the Wolf-Man’s Drawing

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe image of the Wolf-Man’s drawing of the white wolves in the walnut tree is iconic in the history of psychoanalysis. In this article, the drawing and its creation serve to illustrate not only Freud’s theories concerning the creation of images and imagery, but equally something meaningful about Freud himself. As will become clear, these Freudian theories, drawn from concepts in The Interpretation of Dreams, the papers on metatheory, and a random selection of Freud’s own poetic word images, reveal not only Freud’s interpretive presence but also his personal absence. Challenging Freud's interpretation of the drawing as confirming the Wolf-Man's childhood dream, this article presents potential imagery of the drawing as seen through the lenses of post-Freudian psychoanalytic authors as well as an intriguing quote by art historian Whitney Davis. The author then adds some image creations of her own.