Otto Rank Libri

Revealing Rank's intellectual development during this period, they treat such topics as projection and identification, love and will, neurosis as a failure in creativity, and object-relations theory.

"[Rank's thought] has implications for the deepest and broadest development of the social sciences . . . and of all [Rank's] books, Art and Artist is the most secure monument to his genius." --Ernest Becker

Otto Rank's seminal work explores psychoanalytical interpretations of mythological figures like Oedipus, Moses, and Sargon, linking these myths to common dreams that symbolize repressed desires. First published in 1909 and expanded in a later edition, Rank's analysis integrates new findings in psychoanalysis, mythology, and ethnology, deepening the understanding of the human psyche through these ancient narratives.

Focusing on the significance of psychoanalysis, this early 20th-century work delves into topics such as paranoia and psychiatry, exploring foundational theories in the field. Originally published in 1916, it is now a rare find, with many copies being expensive and hard to locate. The republished edition aims to make these classic texts accessible again, maintaining the original content and artwork for readers interested in the historical context of psychoanalysis.

Groundbreaking in its application of psychoanalytic methods to mythology, this monograph explores hero birth narratives across various cultures, including Greek, Roman, Judeo-Christian, Indian, and Germanic legends. Otto Rank, an influential figure in psychology and a contemporary of Freud, employs classic Freudian concepts to analyze these stories. The book's middle section, rich with diverse and sometimes obscure sources, serves as a valuable resource for modern readers. Its impact on later writers, notably Joseph Campbell, underscores its significance in the study of mythology.

A plea for the acceptance of the irrational element in man is the most vital part of human life and Rank discusses the ultimates: death, immortality, sexuality, and love.

2010 Reprint of 1952 Edition. First published in 1924, Otto Rank's The Trauma of Birth took as its starting point a note that Freud added to his The Interpretation of Dreams: "Moreover, the act of birth is the first experience of anxiety, and thus the source and prototype of the affect of anxiety." Rank set out to identify "the ultimate biological basis of the psychical," the very "nucleus of the unconscious" (p. xxiii). For him this was the physical event of birth, whereby the infant passes from a state of perfectly contented union with the mother to a state of parlous separation via an oppressive experience of asphyxiation, constriction, confinement in the vaginal canal, and so on-all feelings recognizable in anxiety states of every kind. It was the struggle against this traumatic experience of birth, in Rank's account, that structured the fantasy life of the child, including the disavowal of the difference between the sexes, infantile sexual theories, and oedipal scenarios. Castration anxiety was a defensive derivative of the anxiety associated with the birth trauma.

In his last years, Otto Rank turned his lifetime of thought and learning toward two of the most difficult topics in human history: religion and the soul. The result was this now-classic work, available in this new, very accessible English translation. Unlike many other intellectuals of the twentieth century, Rank maintains a place for the soul rather than dismissing it as a fantasy. The soul and the beliefs about it, he argues, set forth the foundation for psychology, with its complex analyses of consciousness, self-consciousness, and personality. Rank's commentary is not limited to beliefs about individual souls but includes ideas about group souls, sometimes encompassing nations or generations. Rank suggests that it is in expression of group beliefs that the idea of the soul attains its greatest power.--Publisher description