Episode 14: The Oedipus Complex. Timeless or obsolete?

Summary: When this term comes into play, all analytical alarm bells start going off: Oedipus Complex. This concept seems to epitomize everything disreputable in all those abysmally-fanciful psychoanalytic concepts, which conflate childhood and sexuality and which give birth to concepts such as castration anxiety, penis envy, incestuous desire. But what exactly is the Oedipus complex about? And is the concept still relevant for psychoanalysis today?

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Literature Recommendations:

• Boschan, P. (1990). Temporality and Narcissism. Int. Rev. Psycho-Anal., 17, 337–349.
• Deleuze, G., Guattari, F. (1972/2009). Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. London: Penguin.
• Fonagy, P., Krause, R., Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (2006). Identity, Gender, and Sexuality. 150 Years after Freud. London: International Psychoanalytic Association.
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