Freud, Psychoanalysis and Death

Was “death” a lacuna at the heart of Sigmund Freud’s work? Liran Razinsky argues that the question of death is repressed, rejected and avoided by Freud, therefore resulting in an impairment of the entire theoretical structure of psychoanalysis. Razinsky supports his claim through a series of close readings of psychoanalytic texts (including not just Freud, but Klein, Kohut, Jung and Lacan, among others) that explore psychoanalysis’ inattention to this fundamental human concern. The readings are combined to form an overall critique of psychoanalysis—one that remains sympathetic but calls for a rethinking of the issue of death. In presenting a fresh and persuasive interpretation of the Freudian corpus, this bookwill be of interest to scholars of Freud’s thought and psychoanalysis, literary scholars, analysts, clinicians and all those curious about death’s psychic life.