PREFACE TO THE THIRD GERMAN EDITION
WHEREAS there was a space of nine years between the
first and second editions of this book, the need of a third edition was
apparent when little more than a year had elapsed. I ought to be gratified
by this change; but if I was unwilling previously to attribute the neglect
of my work to its small value, I cannot take the interest which is now
making its appearance as proof of its quality.
The advance of scientific knowledge has not left The
Interpretation of Dreams untouched. When I wrote this book in 1899 there
was as yet no "sexual theory," and the analysis of the more complicated
forms of the psychoneuroses was still in its infancy. The interpretation
of dreams was intended as an expedient to facilitate the psychological
analysis of the neuroses; but since then a profounder understanding of the
neuroses has contributed towards the comprehension of the dream. The
doctrine of dream-interpretation itself has evolved in a direction which
was insufficiently emphasized in the first edition of this book. From my
own experience, and the works of Stekel and other writers, * I have since
learned to appreciate more accurately the significance of symbolism in
dreams (or rather, in unconscious thought). In the course of years, a mass
of data has accumulated which demands consideration. I have endeavored to
deal with these innovations by interpolations in the text and footnotes.
If these additions do not always quite adjust themselves to the framework
of the treatise, or if the earlier text does not everywhere come up to the
standard of our present knowledge, I must beg indulgence for this
deficiency, since it is only the result and indication of the increasingly
rapid advance of our science. I will even venture to predict the
directions in which further editions of this book- should there be a
demand for them- may diverge from previous editions. Dream- interpretation
must seek a closer union with the rich material of poetry, myth, and
popular idiom, and it must deal more faithfully than has hitherto been
possible with the relations of dreams to the neuroses and to mental
derangement.
Herr Otto Rank has afforded me valuable assistance in
the selection of supplementary examples, and has revised the proofs of
this edition. I have to thank him and many other colleagues for their
contributions and corrections.
Vienna, 1911 -
* Omitted in subsequent editions. |
