The Interpretation of Dreams

Few books have done more to shape the twentieth-century mind than The Interpretation of Dreams.

First published in November 1899, it is the originator of concepts such as the Oedipus complex and the notion, now taken for granted, that our daily lives are governed not only by conscious decisions but by unconscious pressures. Although it inaugurated the new practice of psychoanalysis, its most lasting impact has been on our social and cultural outlook, on how we interpret literature and art, and on the language in which we do so.

This new translation is the first to be based on the original text, unmodified by Freud's later additions. Joyce Crick's translation captures with great immediacy the lightness and pace of Freud's style, freed from the jargon and Victorian elaborations of James Strachey's famous version. In his introduction and notes Ritchie Robertson examines The Interpretation of Dreams not only as a scientific essay but also as an autobiographical and cultural document, which still has the power to arouse passionate responses for and against its claims.

Author: Sigmund Freud

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Released Date: 1999

ISBN: 9780199537587