On Freud's Jewish body : mitigating circumcisions /

Geller (Divinity School, Vanderbilt Univ.) has written a compelling study of the meaning of Jewishness and the Jewish body in the context of the Freudian psychoanalytic tradition. The author focuses on Freud's own latent, therefore ambivalent and charged, relation to Jewish identity, especially as it was shaped by the anti-semitism of the period. He offers readings of some central texts in the Freudian corpus, including the cases of Little Hans and the famous neuropath Daniel Paul Schreber, the correspondence with Wilhelm Fliess, and the essay "Fetishism" (1927). In all cases, Geller's readings are historically grounded and mark fresh contributions to the literature on the complex relation of psychoanalysis to the question of Jewish identity. A nice complement to the important work of Sander Gilman, especially his outstanding Freud, Race, and Gender (CH, Feb'94, 31-3483), this invaluable account of Jewishness in the context of the history of 20th-century European approaches to identity and difference will be of special interest to students of psychology, history, and literature and to professionals who wish to deepen their knowledge of the history of psychoanalysis. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. M. Uebel University of Texas