The Misnomer of Freud's "Seduction Theory"

Abstract

Sigmund Freud's of 1896 was buried without a name in 1897, less than two years after it appeared. process by which it acquired a name, seduction theory, and the role this name played in the history of psychoanalysis are essential parts of the legend-making in Freud's biography. label, bestowed half a century after publication, reflected two major rhetorical transformations. First, from a presented with highly general claims of infant sex abuse, assault, and trauma, the was repackaged as a of seduction. Second, from a reportedly based in actual, experience, followed by repressed memory, it was transformed into one of fantasy. name seduction theory has therefore operated as a misleading, strategic misnomer for the that Freud published in 1896. Freud announced his in three publications, referred to here in order of publication as the Paris paper,' the Berlin paper,2 and The Aetiology of Hysteria, published in Vienna.3 In his final publication the emphasis on trauma was greatest. In the space of five pages in the Standard Edition of Freud's works he used the word traumatic or traumatically fifteen times.4 Although