Freuds Interpretation of the Dream of Irmas Injection - Essay Example

Module Freud’s Interpretation of the Dream of Irma’s Injection The advent of psychoanalysis can be traced back to Sigmund Freud and in terms of dream interpretation his dream of Irma provided perhaps the first platform. His interpretation of his own dream in “The Interpretation of Dreams” provides insight into a new approach of dream analysis and invites other researchers to discuss and critique and give their own perspectives on the dream of Irma’s Injection. Freud’s own interpretation of dreams can be summarized as a disguised fulfillment of repressed wishes alongside a strong acting factor of sexuality (Freud 87), a view that has elicited much discussion on his work by several other workers. When studying ideas such as Freud’s from secondary sources one may find that some of them are in conflict with each other and others even controversial; a situation that raises questions about the reliability of the sources used in such a study. An analysis of the Freud’s interpretation therefore ought to be first preceded by an analytical discussion of these sources detailing how one may discern their reliability and scenarios where imperfect sources may be used. In light of this, the first goal of this study is to analyze such sources as described previously. This will then be followed by the second goal which is to analyze some of Freud’s interpretation of the dream of Irma’s injection. The guiding theme for this study is reliability of sources that offer proper and correct analysis of Freud’s interpretation of the dream of Irma’s injection. Analysis of Sources of Study. Several descriptions of the era that the world is currently in have been put forward but one that stands out and stands strong in scrutiny is that we are living in the information era. Information is being generated at higher rates than seen before, analyzed and critiqued by several individuals followed by distribution from the primary and secondary sources involved. This results in varied perspectives of looking at even a single line of study. Furthermore, the advent of the internet has made distribution, availability and sharing of information quite easy. While this is to a large extent advantageous, the issue of information literacy crops up. That is, the lifelong capability of students and researchers to discern which source is reliable, conceptually correct and replicable (Armstrong 17). The implications of using unreliable sources include the fact that incorrect information may be amplified besides disregard of an individual’s entire work if it is realized that their sources are essentially questionable. Another scenario on the aspects of sources is intertextuality which Graham (2) explains as how other texts are used, why they are used and the author’s position on the topic at hand. The implications of information literacy and intertextuality are that sources may be reporting the other sources or agreeing with them, conflicting, sometimes controversial and even downright unreliable. The essential question that arises therefore is how to appraise a source and determine whether it is good or bad and how we end up using unreliable sources in our work. According to Johnston and Christensen (70) an analysis of whether an information source is good or bad can be based on its suitability in terms of scope, audience and timelines. Thus, we should appraise a source for the analysis of Freud’s interpretation of Irma’s dream based on its suitability. For example is the source reporting, critiquing or reinterpreting Freud’s work. An example of this is Griffin and Tyrell (1-6) whose work is in opposition to Freud’s interpretation instead suggesting an Expectations Fulfillment Theory in place of Freud’s Repressed Wishes Theory of dream interpretation. Lacan (2009) reinterprets Freud’s work on an entirely different perspective based on Ego reduction as a theory of dream interpretation. The interpretations of these two studies are based on evidence from letters that Freud sent to a friend. Thus, if our aim is to provide Freud’s interpretation we should know which source is suitable. Another consideration is the authority of the author. Examples are internet sources both present scholarly material and others such as personal blogs which may both deal with Freud’s interpretation of the dream of Irma. Other consideration for analyzing sources includes the author’s objectivity and provision of documentation. We may end up using sources that are not perfect for a study such as analysis of Freud’s interpretation of his cocaine dreams when we ignore such considerations and use un-authored or non-authoritative work, informal sources, outdated sources or even when the author’s objectives in their work is different from ours. Freuds Interpretation of the Dream of Irmas Injection. In light of the discussion just undertaken, it is important that an analysis of Freud’s interpretation of the dream of Irma’s injection be based on a source whose objective is to present the views that Freud had on these dreams i.e. interpretation based on the Repressed Wishes theory. The sources also ought to be authoritative and reliable. One approach would be to use a source that objectively details the state that Freud was in entirety at the time of the dreams and their interpretation alongside Freud’s other endeavors. In Markel, we find such a source that details Freud in his practice and scholarly work, and his discovery, dependence and struggles with cocaine alongside the impact this had on his life in terms of practice and direction with patients and theoretical endeavors (Markel, 2). Another alternative is to use a source that is based on Freud’s own work “The Interpretation of Dreams,” reporting or transcribing the work. This is the concept adopted where Griffin and Tyrell’s representation of Freud’s dream is utilized to give a background before an analysis of Freud’s interpretation is based on Freud’s own authorship. Before an analysis of Freud’s interpretation of the dream in question, it is imperative that a background on the dream is first established. Freud had this dream in 1895 and analyzed it immediately the next day before following this up with detailed work on interpretation of dreams published five years later based on the dream of Irma’s injection. The dream is set in a party at Freud’s place, where one of his patients known as Irma is in attendance. Freud takes her aside to the window to demand to know why she refused to take his advice on treatment. Irma reveals that she is at the moment in pain. Freud notices that she is physically sick and concludes that after all, there should be a biomedical basis to the disease amidst his psychological inquiry into Irma. On examination of her mouth he realizes that she has a big white patch and grey scabs modeled along her turbinal nose bones. Dr. M, looking unusually pale and limping and clean shaven, confirms Freud’s observations. While another practitioner, Leopold examines her and discovers an infection, Otto, a surgeon who had worked on Irma stands by watching. The source of the infection is clear to all; Otto had administered to her trymethylamin, an injection that should not be made thoughtlessly. Besides, there are questions on whether the syringe Otto used was clean (Griffin and Tyrell 2007). Freud undertook an interpretation of his dream and published it five years later. The concept he derives from his dream is that dreams can be interpreted in terms of disguised fulfilment of suppressed wishes (Freud 87). He draws on several elements from the dream to indicate that it was all attached to his daytime wishes besides bringing the issue of sexuality at some point. As shall be seen, his interpretation contrasts from the two given previously. Some of Freud’s interpretations of his dream are discussed below in order to bring out the contrast with the other two studies. Freud (80) interprets the white patch he saw on Irma as reminding him of diphtheritis, a condition that his daughter had nearly two years before. He had been afraid that she may die. The turbinal scab reminded him of his own state of health as a result of cocaine use; his patient had earlier on developed nasal necrosis as a result of the cocaine he had administered to her. His abrupt request of Dr. M to look into Irma reminded him of a time he had administered a sulphonal which he had thought was harmless. He had to call for immediate help from one of the senior doctors around in the same manner as it happened in the dream. In the dream, Dr. M appeared pale and was clean shaven and walking with a limp. Dr. M in Freud’s real life did appear sickly but the other two features must have represented his elder brother. The fusion of the two was because Freud was not particularly in good terms with them at the moment since they had rejected his suggestions albeit separately. He also presents Otto and Leopold as relatives and in competition since the time they were his juniors, hence their appearance at the scene together. He’s retribution of Otto in the dream was because the latter had appeared to switch sides on him (81). The unprofessional injection also reminded him of his own actions against a previous patient hence he was rebuking himself too. Finally, the trymethylamin had been explained to him to be a product of sperm, hence the element of sexuality fits in (83). CONCLUSION It is clear that there are essential differences in the interpretation of Freud’s interpretation of his dream by various sources. Evidence from Freud’s letters result in generation of different perspectives on the dream of Irma’s injection which differ from Freud’s interpretation and thus bring about other theoretical frameworks for the interpretation of dreams apart from what Freud put forth. The importance of analysis of the source for one’s work based on his objective is clearly visible. The idea that reliable and objective-based sources are necessary for this analysis is also upheld. Works Cited Allen, Graham. Intertextuality: The new critical idiom. New York, Routledge, 2000. Print. Armstrong, Sara. Information literacy: Navigating and evaluating todays media. 2nd Edition. USA: Corrine Burton, 2008. Print. Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of dreams. USA: Plain Label Books, 1953. Print. Griffin, Joseph and Tyrell, Ivan. Human givens: A new approach to emotional health and clear thinking. Chalvington: HG Pub., 2003. Print. Griffin, Joseph and Tyrell, Ivan. Why do we dream? The expectation fulfilment theory of Dreaming. Givens, 2007. Web. 7 October, 2011. Johnston, Burke and Christensen, Larry B. Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. USA: SAGE Publications, 2011. Print. Markel, Horward. An anatomy of addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the miracle drug cocaine. USA: Pantheon Books, 2011. Print. Lacan.com. “Book II: The Ego in Freuds Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis.” The Seminars of Jacques Lacan. New York, 2010. Web. 7 October, 2011. 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