Hysteria: Graphic Freud Series

by Richard Appignanesi, Oscar Zárate

Overview

Hysteria is a graphic novel account of the first steps, errors, and frustrations of Sigmund Freud’s career, which would lead to the foundation of a revolutionary new clinical therapy: psychoanalysis. The book traces Freud’s early training in neurological research and medicine; the crucial turning-point of his studies with Jean-Martin Charcot at La Salpêtrière; and his establishment of a therapeutic practice in Vienna.

Perfectly matching text and illustrations, Hysteria recounts Freud’s interest in his colleague Josef Breuer’s "Anna O" case study, as well as giving an account of his own case histories of hysteria, particularly the treatment of Fräulein Elisabeth von R. The studies brought to life in this authoritative, beautifully illustrated graphic novel are collected in Freud and Breuer’s co-authored Studies in Hysteria, which marked the birth of psychoanalysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781906838997
Publisher:	SelfMadeHero
Publication date:	11/10/2015
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Oscar Zarate is an award-winning graphic novelist. His books include A Small Killing (with Alan Moore), It’s Dark in London, and The Park. He lives in London.

Richard Appignanesi originated the For Beginners... series. His own bestselling titles for that series include Freud and Existentialism, both illustrated by Oscar Zarate. He also edited the Manga Shakespeare series. He lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

01/04/2016
Graphic biographies are entering a more mature, nuanced phase, demonstrated by Appignanesi's entry in the Graphic Freud series. He doesn't aim for a thumbnail encapsulation of a man's life work, as in Appignanesi's own For Beginners series. Instead, this book zeroes in on Freud's early career as an ambitious, fame-seeking therapist circling two problematic issues. First are the broad range of psychological and traumatic problems that clueless doctors in the late 1800s diagnosed as "hysteria" in many female patients. Appignanesi's chatty but studious narrative follows Freud from studying in Paris with neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot—whose fixations on theatrical symptoms and the uterus as the cause of all his patients' problems were later debunked—to his later incarnation as an empathetic (though still sexuality-fixated) explorer of the psyche. The second issue, Freud's insistence on the curative and non-addictive qualities of cocaine, is a sharp reflection on medical hubris. The backdrop of Freud's exile in London, after having fled the Nazis, adds a melancholic tone to the thoughtful text and Zarate's expressionistic renderings. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Anyone who doubts that, in the right hands, the graphic novel can make daunting, unlikely subject matter accessible and fascinating is directed here; highly recommended to all readers looking to broaden their intellectual horizons.”—Library Journal online (starred review)

“Graphic biographies are entering a more mature, nuanced phase, demonstrated by Appignanesi’s entry in the Graphic Freud series . . . a sharp reflection on medical hubris.”—Publishers Weekly online

From the Publisher