The Oedipus Complex ― Focus of the Psychoanalysis-anthropology Dispute

The Oedipus complex encapsulates the difficult relationship between psychoanalysis and anthropology. Smadja explores the complicated historical and epistemological conditions leading up to the emergence of this debate, taking into consideration the beginnings of both sciences, the "creation" of the Oedipus complex, and the place, role and influence of Totem and Taboo, both in the history of psychoanalysis and as a junction with anthropology internationally. The author compares and contrasts the historical, epistemological and methodological features of both anthropology and psychoanalysis and presents an evaluation of the new disciplines emerging from the junction between them.

Eric Smadja is a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst (Paris and London). He is a member of the Societe Psychanalytique de Paris and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA). He is also an anthropologist and an associate member of the American Anthropological Association. He was awarded the IPA’s Prize for "Exceptional Contribution Made to Psychoanalytical Research" (2007). He is the author of several books, including The Couple: A Pluridisciplinary Story (Routledge).