1. Introduction: Psychoanalysis, Fatherhood, and the Work of Mourning.- Part I Freud  Discovers Oedipus.- 2. The Road to Thebes: Freud and French Retrospective Medicine.- 3. The Dawn of the Oedipus Complex: A Tale of Two Letters.- Part II The Oedipus Complex After Freud.- 4. Freud's Oedipal Myth and Lacan’s Critique.- 5. Deleuze-Guattari and the End of Oedipus.- 6. The Nuclear Family and Its Discontents: Freud, Jung, and Szondi and the Persistence of the Dynasty.- Part III Private and Public Fathers.- 7. Black Fathers, Oedipal Issues, and Modernity.- 8. Does a Father Need to be a Man?.- 9. Blindness and Repair in Institutional Psychoanalysis: A Brief History.- 10. A Fatherless Nation: Alexander Mitscherlich Analyzes Post-War Germany.- Part IV Media Matters.- 11. The Planetary Father Function.- 12. What is Called Father? (A Fissure in Familialism).

To what extent are the concepts of fatherhood and family, as proposed by Sigmund Freud, still valid?

Psychoanalysis, Fatherhood, and the Modern Family traces the development of Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex and discusses his ideas in the context of recent psychoanalytic work, new sociological data, and theoretical explorations on gender and diversity. Contributors include representatives from many academic disciplines, as well as practicing psychoanalysts who reflect on their experience with patients. Their exciting essays break new ground in defining who a father is—and what a father may be.

“At a time when cultural and academic discourse is overflowing with ideas about diversity and fluidity in gender and personal life, it is easy to overlook how Freud’s concept of the Oedipus Complex continues to shape our most deeply held beliefs about fatherhood and the family. This fascinating book draws on a range of theoretical, clinical, and empirical perspectives to question, challenge, and highlight the relevance of Freud’s work today. A wonderful collection of essays to stimulate debate and reflection for years to come.”

—Tabitha Freeman, Former Senior Research Associate at Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, UK

 

“This is a first-rate collection of essays, which will revitalize the debate on one of the most important, influential, and controversial topics of psychoanalysis. All the essays are illuminating, learned, and engagingly written. It makes for an informative—as well as exciting and fun!—read.”
—Mario Telò,Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley

“This volume takes us not only to Freud, his father, Oedipus, and Oedipus, but also to many of their interlocutors and critics from within the history of psychoanalysis as well as anthropology, feminism, and philosophy. Its lucid introduction and many splendid essays illuminate fatherhood from different angles even while making paternity itself uncanny. As a result, Psychoanalysis, Fatherhood, and the Modern Family will appeal to a wide range of readers—students, teachers, and the psychoanalytic community more generally—eager to learn all about fathers, past and present.”
—Andrew Parker, Professor of French and Comparative Literature, Rutgers University, USA

Traces the development of the Oedipus complex Explores the theory in light of new sociological data and theoretical explorations on gender and diversity Offers a compelling account of 'the father' from various academic disciplines

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