General Theory of Seduction

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

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The general theory of seduction is one of the central components in the metapsychological work of French psychoanalyst Jean Laplanche.

The original “theory of seduction” (Verführungstheorie) was a hypothesis developed by Sigmund Freud in the mid-1890s to account for the condition of hysteria. Freud posited that behind intensely experienced but apparently banal memories recollected by hysterical patients there lay concealed from consciousness the unassimilable remembrance of real events of infantile sexual abuse. At this relatively early stage of his career Freud still held to the common “pre-Freudian” view that children were essentially asexual beings, and that the psychological and physiological capacity for sexual desire only emerged at puberty. He therefore posited that until

1230 words

Citation: Ray, Nicholas. "General Theory of Seduction". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 June 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=13856, accessed 28 March 2024.]

13856 General Theory of Seduction 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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