The History of the Libido's Development: Evidence From Freud's Case Studies

Abstract

Between 1905 and 1911 a perspective slowly appeared in Freud's works -- a perspective which he considered "historical" and which he eventually named "history of the libido's development" ("Entwicklungsgeschichte der Libido") in 1911. By reading again "The Rate Man," "Schreber" and "The Wolf Man" we can understand how Freud, thanks to the analysis of his case histories, outlined the particularities of this "history of the libido's development," which lies at the core of infantile prehistory. We will also study how this "history of the libido's development," in providing a stereotyped interpretation of psychic material, could lead to a reduction of the very movement of the analysis.