Sabina Spielrein's theoretical views in her letter to Carl Gustav Jung (1917-1918)

Abstract

There has been recently an increasing acknowledgement of the originality and pioneering character of the theoretical and clinical views proposed by the Russian psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein. However, few studies were so far specifically dedicated to the analysis of her theories. Besides her published work, the letters Spielrein exchanged with Jung between 1917 and 1918 contain rich theoretical reflections that allow for a better understanding of her thought and the hypotheses she was about to formulate in the following years. This article aims at analyzing the concepts of symbolism and subconscious that Spielrein presents in her letters to Jung from the period mentioned above. It is argued that, with these concepts, Spielrein further develops the theory she had begun to formulate in her early publications and attempts to integrate her own hypotheses with some ideas of Freud and Jung. This integration, in turn, results in the elaboration of an original theory of the psyche.