THALASSA is the journal of the Sándor Ferenczi Society, Budapest.
THALASSA is the title of Sándor Ferenczi’s classical work.
THALASSA symbolically refers to the sea, the womb, the origin, the source.
THALASSA is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to free investigations in psychoanalysis, culture and society.
THALASSA has roots in the historical traditions of Hungarian psychoanalysis, but is not committed to any particular school or authority. 
THALASSA welcomes all original contributions, historical, theoretical, or critical, dealing with the common problems of psychoanalysis and the humanities.
 

CONTENTS AND SUMMARIES OF THE PRESENT ISSUE (2000/2-3)
 

MAJOR ARTICLES

Anna Valachi: “I saw the past split”. A magical self-creating rite out of a therapeutic model »»»
György Kassai: Traces of Ferenczi’s influence in Attila József’s psychoanalytical writings »»»
György Péter Hárs: Thalassa – or the regression of the symbol »»»

PSYCHOANALYSIS IN SERBIA

Žarko Trebješanin: The psychoanalysis in Serbia »»»
Žarko Trebješanin: Hugo Klajn’s critical psychoanalysis »»»
Hugo Klajn: Hamlet’s self-consciousness »»»
Žarko Trebješanin: The psychopathology of non-everyday life »»»

FORUM

A letter of André Green »»»

Kathleen Kelley-Lainé: Sexual curiosity, trauma and the confusions of tongues. The relevance of Sándor Ferenczi’s work today »»»
Zsuzsanna Agárdi Malek: The complexes of Oedipus and Electra. Past and present of the two complexes based on three dramas by Sophocles »»»

ARCHIVES

Adam Bžoch: Karol Terebessy and the reception of psychoanalysis in Slovakia »»»
Christfried Tögel: Jenő Varga, psychoanalysis, the Councils’ Republic and Stalinism »»»
Sándor Ferenczi and Georg Groddeck on marriage (Rudolf Pfitzner) »»»
Sándor Ferenczi’s domiciles (Judit Mészáros) »»»

Books
Events and Information
English Summaries

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT ISSUE (2000/2–3)

In our MAJOR ARTICLES section, two articles deal with the relationship between Sándor Ferenczi and the Hungarian poet, Attila József (1905–1937).
    In her article, “I saw the past split”. A magical self-creating rite from a therapeutic model, ANNA VALACHI analyzes the motives behind the creation of Attila József’s “List of Free Ideas in Two Sessions” – a writing of enigmatic origin and genre. She focuses on “the confusion of tongues”, a term used by Ferenczi to designate one of the most frequent sources of misunderstanding between adults and children. Ferenczi’s life and work, especially his notions of therapy, highly influenced and inspired Attila József, and left their mark on the text and context of the “List of Free Ideas”. This paper reveals signs of spiritual bonding between physician and poet.  «««
    In his article, Traces of Ferenczi’s influence in Attila József’s psychoanalytical writings, GYÖRGY KASSAI explores writings and poems by Attila József in light of Ferenczi’s theory. He asserts that the poet knew and acknowledged the psychoanalyst’s major ideas. Thalassa is a regular motif in the poetry of Attila József and a basic image in Ferenczi’s theory. Moreover, the use of obscene words is conspicuous in Attila József’s “List of Free Ideas in Two Sessions”, and a problem discussed in an essay by Ferenczi. The author suggests that a resemblance can be found between psychiatrist and poet not just in their thoughts but also in their personalities.  «««
    The third article in this section, PÉTER GYÖRGY HÁRS’s essay, Thalassa – or the regression of the symbol, is about Ferenczi’s concept of the symbol as worked out in Thalassa (1924). The author shows the interdependence between Ferenczi’s utraquistic method and his original concept of symbol. He suggests that “symbol” in Ferenczi’s thought is akin to Derrida’s concept of “trace” and also implies the terms “catastrophe”, “birth”, “death” and “playing”. As a result, we may conceptualize the opening and reopening of symbols just like the opening and reopening of a tomb, suggesting also the interplay of repression and repetition.  «««
 

In our section, PSYCHOANALYSIS IN SERBIA, edited and translated by VIKTÓRIA RADICS, we publish the following contributions: 

ŽARKO TREBJEŠANIN: Psychoanalysis in Serbia
This study discusses the appearance and development of psychoanalysis in Serbia. It describes the early interests of Hugo Klajn and Miklós Sugár in the 1920s, and the development of psychoanalysis after Freud’s most important works were published in the 1930s. Founded at that time, the Serbian Psychoanalytical Association was banned during World War II. During the communist era, psychoanalysis was generally repressed. However, in the 1950s, important institutions and departments of psychotherapy were established. In the 1960s, ideological resistance was reduced while interest in psychoanalysis and publications increased. In the 1980s, the ideas of psychoanalysis crossed many disciplines and sparked work in Serbian literature, philosophy, sociology, linguistics, anthropology, history and other fields.  «««

ŽARKO TREBJEŠANIN: Hugo Klajn’s critical psychoanalysis
This essay is about the most significant Serbian psychoanalyst, Hugo Klajn, an expert on Shakespeare, a theatre critic, and a director. His work extended from 1921 to 1981, and survived two totalitarian regimes, Fascism and Stalinism. The essay touches upon his youth, his studies, and his encounter with psychoanalysis. After the war, he wrote a book on the war-neurosis of Yugoslavs. Later, he turned to the psychoanalytical exploration of dramas. He always showed great political consciousness. Klajn was the most important interpreter, follower and critic of Freud in Serbia. However, his work has almost been completely forgotten – “repressed”.  «««

HUGO KLAJN: Hamlet’s self-consciousness
The author analyzes the drama from a psychoanalytical viewpoint. He discusses the question of the hero’s Oedipus- or Orestes-complex. He argues that behind Hamlet’s love for his father and resistant attitude toward his mother are incestuous desires and an unsolved Oedipus complex. Hamet’s love for his father may be a reactive, excessive love. The author explores the causes of Hamlet’s postponed revenge. He suggests that revenge was not for the sake of Hamlet’s father, but for Hamlet’s own need. By building a new superego, Hamlet is obliged to cure himself and to contribute to the cure of Denmark.  «««

ŽARKO TREBJEŠANIN: The psychopathology of non-everyday life
This essay analyzes psychological aspects of the totalitarian regime in Serbia. The author explores the psychic consequences of dictatorship for people under repression. These are shown in the tendency toward irrationality, regression and fears, and in the need for security – resulting in submission to a strong authority. He explores the mechanisms of power and the manipulation of the media. Stressing the responsibility of psychologists and intellectuals to understand totalitarianism, he examines the psychological roots and functions of nationalist ideology and reveals the psychological attributes of the dictator. «««

In the FORUM section, we publish an exchange of letters between ANDRÉ GREEN and SERGIO BENVENUTO. In the No. 1. 1999 issue of our journal, we published a conversation between Green and Benvenuto under the title “Against Lacanism”. (The text was taken from Journal of European Psychoanalysis, No. 2. Fall 1995–Winter 1996.) In their exchange of letters, André Green criticizes the published text of the conversation and Sergio Benvenuto replies to Green (Nos. 3–4, Spring 1996–Winter 1997).  «««

The WORKSHOP section contains two articles. 

In her article, Sexual curiosity, trauma and the confusions of tongues. The relevance of Sándor Ferenczi’s work today, KATHLEEN KELLEY-LAINÉ discusses Ferenczi’s article on the “Confusion of Tongues” in light of clinical practice, and presents the case of a young patient as an illustration of this confusion in a contemporary context. In particular, she argues that traumatic effects of adult sexuality on the “innocent” child seeking tender love is not necessarily due to physical abuse alone. Taking into consideration the existence of the unconscious drives of the young child – manifested by sexual curiosity – and the need to find a safe outlet for these, the child may become just as overwhelmed by adult sexuality through witnessing the primal scene or its equivalent – passionate quarreling or fighting between the parents – as through physical abuse. The author’s hypothesis derives from clinical experience, especially with young women in their early twenties. Although apparently successful in important ways – appearance, intelligence, professional life, etc. – these young women remain unusually obsessed with their parents’ live, especially their sexuality, thus jeopardizing their own experiences and sexuality.  «««

ZSUZSANNA AGÁRDI MALEK’s essay, The complexes of Oedipus and Electra. Past and present of the two complexes based on three dramas by Sophocles, attempts a mythological and historical disclosure of the Oedipus complex by analyzing three dramas of Sophocles (Oedipus Rex; Oedipus at Colonus; Electra). She also offers a literary-psychological interpretation of the three works. Using J. J. Bachofen’s conception of matriarchy, the first part of her study shows that the two basic complexes of humankind, Oedipus and Electra complexes, are not only the manifestation of unconscious fantasies and desires related to parents, but also the historical, social and cultural memory traces of humankind’s prehistorical course of development. Myths and their classical artistic elaboration faithfully preserve the matriarchal culture. At the same time, they already represent the laws of patriarchal culture sanctioned by the succeeding system of patriarchy. Bloody tragic events are manifestation of the great conflicts associated with the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy. The second part of the study interprets some of the typical motifs, symbolic characters and episodes of the dramas. It compares the dramatic logic of Oedipus Rex with the psychoanalytical disclosing work and reconstructs the “psychobiography” of Oedipus and Electra stripped of mythological elements. The author observes that psychoanalytical theory still fails to identify the right term for the basic conflict characteristic of women, wrongly called “female Oedipus complex.” «««                    

In the ARCHIVES section three contributions follow: 

ADAM BŽOCH’s essay, Karol Terebessy and the reception of psychoanalysis in Slovakia, explores the intellectual impact of Freudian ideas on Slovakia. Slovakia encountered psychoanalysis in the first half of the 1940s. It was an outcome of three different productive sources: the young psychology, the programs of a movement called “Association for Scientific Synthesis”, and the Slovakian artistic avant-garde, who produced a delayed surrealism called “over-realism” in Slovakia. The author presents the life and work of a Slovak writer and literary critic, Karol Terebessy (1910–1985), one of the first critics who applied psychoanalytical principles to the interpretation of literary works. «««

CHRISTFRIED TÖGEL in his article Jenő Varga, psychoanalysis, the Councils’ Republic and Stalinism, explores – on the basis of archival sources, memoirs and interviews – the strange career of the economist Jenő (Yevgenij) Varga (1879–1964), an early Hungarian sympathizer of psychoanalysis. Varga become a member of the Hungarian Psychoanalytic Association in 1918, and, in 1919, was appointed People’s Commissar for Finances during the Hungarian Councils’ Republic, the first Communist regime in the country – After the failure of the Commune, he emigrated to Soviet Russia. In the 1920s, he worked at the Soviet commercial mission in Berlin, and maintained contact with Freud until the late 1920s. Later, he became one of the leading economists of the Soviet Union, an expert on the political economy of capitalism. Though he never publicly opposed Stalinism, an ambivalent attitude toward the totalitarian regime can be reconstructed from his memoirs as well as from interviews with family members and friends. «««

RUDOLF PFITZNER presents a curious exchange between Sándor Ferenczi and Georg Groddeck on marriage published in 1921 in Die Arche, a German journal. Pfitzner comments that these two, historically interesting, brief articles show that both psychoanalysts were heavily influenced by the stereotypical views of their age on women and feminine sexuality. «««

In her communication, Sándor Ferenczi’s domiciles, JUDIT MÉSZÁROS presents a list of Fernczi’s known home addresses in Budapest from the beginning of his carrier until his death. «««

***

We accept contributions in Hungarian, English, German or French. Authors are requested to provide their papers with an English and/or Hungarian summary. Original articles, reviews, reflections, and suggestions should be sent to Dr. Ferenc Erős, Institute for Psychological Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Victor Hugo u. 18-22, H-1132 Budapest. Phone/fax: (36-1) 239-6043. E-mail address: thalassa@c3.hu and feros@mtapi.hu

THALASSA is now available on Internet: 
                http://www.mtapi.hu/thalassa and http://www.c3.hu/scripta/thalassa

The present issue of THALASSA was supported by the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, the National Cultural Fund of the Republic of Hungary, the Hungarian Soros Foundation, and the University of Pécs. Thalassa is edited in cooperation with the “Theoretical psychoanalysis” PhD program of the Doctoral School in Psychology of the University of Pécs, and of the Institute for Psychological Research of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.