The Interpretation of Dreams

by Sigmund Freud · Die Traumdeutung

Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only

Written
1899 (dated 1900)
Language
German
Length
Long · 650 pp300 to 700 pages
Difficulty
Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader

We recommendThe Interpretation of Dreams, translated by James StracheyBasic Books, 2010The complete Standard Edition text, with the variant readings of Freud's eight German editions.

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Freud's foundational book, which argues that every dream is the disguised fulfilment of a wish. After surveying earlier dream theories he analyses his own dreams and those of patients, introduces the mechanisms of condensation, displacement and symbolism by which the dream-work turns latent thoughts into manifest images, and ends with a theory of the psychical apparatus, the unconscious and repression. The Oedipus complex is first sketched here.

No reading guide yet

The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Interpretation of Dreams are verified against each program's published list.

What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.

Browse the 48 works that do have a guide →

Die Traumdeutung, Die Traumdeutung, dream-work, wish fulfilment, Irma's injection, condensation, displacement, Oedipus complex, unconscious, repression, Sigismund Schlomo Freud