A construção da pulsão de morte freudiana : um estudo histórico da formação do conceito a partir de suas fontes

Abstract

If we analyze only the text of 1920 in which Freud presents the concept of death drive, we might get the impression of a radical turning in his drive theory, one that would force him to rearrange other points of the psychoanalytic theory. A closer look shows us, however, that part of the elements used by Freud to constitute his new dualism was already present in his work for a long time. To comprehend what, in fact, causes this change in his way of thinking, it becomes necessary to isolate these elements and to follow the way they were being presented throughout the freudian work. With that in mind, we must investigate the repetition compulsion, the regression and the Nirvana principle in detail. On the top of that, Freud also resorts to the work of several authors to get some support to the death drive. Each one of them ends up contributing (directly or indirectly) to the concept’s final form. Therefore, it is essential to follow the texts of Adler, Breuer, Ferenczi, Low, Spielrein and Stärcke. Only through this it will be possible to achieve some level of understanding of the way which Freud combines internal and external elements to his own work and manages to fuse them in such a complex concept as the death drive.