Sex between Body and Mind
Psychoanalysis and Sexology in the German-speaking World, 1890s-1930s
Published on 25. November 2019
Book
Hardback
364 pages
978-0-472-13160-0 (ISBN)
Description
Ideas about human sexuality and sexual development changed dramatically across the first half of the 20th century. As scholars such as Magnus Hirschfeld, Iwan Bloch, Albert Moll, and Karen Horney in Berlin and Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Stekel, and Helene Deutsch in Vienna were recognized as leaders in their fields, the German-speaking world quickly became the international center of medical-scientific sex research-and the birthplace of two new and distinct professional disciplines, sexology and psychoanalysis.
This is the first book to closely examine vital encounters among this era's German-speaking researchers across their emerging professional and disciplinary boundaries. Although psychoanalysis was often considered part of a broader "sexual science," sexologists increasingly distanced themselves from its mysterious concepts and clinical methods. Instead, they turned to more pragmatic, interventionist therapies-in particular, to the burgeoning field of hormone research, which they saw as crucial to establishing their own professional relevance. As sexology and psychoanalysis diverged, heated debates arose around concerns such as the sexual life of the child, the origins and treatment of homosexuality and transgender phenomena, and female frigidity. This new story of the emergence of two separate approaches to the study of sex demonstrates that the distinctions between them were always part of a dialogic and competitive process. It fundamentally revises our understanding of the production of modern sexual subjects.
This is the first book to closely examine vital encounters among this era's German-speaking researchers across their emerging professional and disciplinary boundaries. Although psychoanalysis was often considered part of a broader "sexual science," sexologists increasingly distanced themselves from its mysterious concepts and clinical methods. Instead, they turned to more pragmatic, interventionist therapies-in particular, to the burgeoning field of hormone research, which they saw as crucial to establishing their own professional relevance. As sexology and psychoanalysis diverged, heated debates arose around concerns such as the sexual life of the child, the origins and treatment of homosexuality and transgender phenomena, and female frigidity. This new story of the emergence of two separate approaches to the study of sex demonstrates that the distinctions between them were always part of a dialogic and competitive process. It fundamentally revises our understanding of the production of modern sexual subjects.
Reviews / Votes
"[Sutton] presents an extensive study that for the first time focuses on psychoanalysis and biological sexology, not as competitors, but as complementary and fruitful concepts. She does not neglect the differences and disagreements between the disciplines and their representatives, but puts them in a different light by highlighting the connecting goals of sex research and psychoanalysis."-Zeitschrift fuer Geschichtswissenschaft (Journal of Historiography), translated from German -- Florian G. Mildenberger * Zeitschrift fuer Geschichtswissenschaft * "Clearly written and extensively documented arguments (with over 100 pages of footnotes and bibliography), Sex Between Body and Mind is a joy to read. It carefully and informatively draws the intellectual and personal connections between early psychoanalysts and sexologists."
-RD Tobin, Social History of Medicine -- RD Tobin * Social History of Medicine * "Sutton's book offers a deep an illuminating examination of what the coalescence of these related bodies of knowledge looked like at the turn of the twentieth century, and thus, what might have been."
-Studies in 20th and 21st Century Literature -- Elizabeth Bridges * Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature * "A valuable and readable study that fills an existing gap and which at the same time can make a contribution to the de-emotionalization of sexual historical research"
-Florian G. Mildenberger, Sexuologie -- Florian G. Mildenberger * Sexuologie * "Sutton's book sheds light on the history of the enduring debate of nature vs. nurture. ...This book will be an excellent choice for scholars who want to use these frameworks with more nuance and historical specificity."
-Javier Vendrell, Monatshefte -- Javier Vendrell * Monatshefte * "Katie Sutton's book accomplishes a remarkable feat."
-Annette Timm, German History -- Annette Timm * German History *
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-472-13160-0 (9780472131600)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9861753
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Katie Sutton is Associate Professor in German and Gender, Sexuality and Cultural Studies at the Australian National University.