Tuesday, October 22, 2013

"totemism... is alien to our present feelings; it has long been abandoned and replaced..."



I found this quote in the Preface of an online version of Freud’s Totem and Taboo. In the Author’s Preface Freud highlights that taboos, like incest, have stayed relevant in society today however, “totemism is a religio-social institution which is alien to our present feelings; it has long been abandoned and replaced by new forms.” Numerous religions that are vibrant in today’s society still uphold ancient patriarchal principles, like the Oedipus complex, that originated in totemism and its sacrificial ceremonies. This is illustrated by Christianity’s history and the Communion ceremony. Towards the end of Totem and Taboo Freud quotes Frazer in saying, “the Christian communion has absorbed within itself a sacrament which is doubtless far older than Christianity.” Here Freud is highlighting that “in the Christian myth the original sin was one against God the Father.” Freud continues by saying since Christ died for our sins, the sin might have been murder and to continue the murder of the father. The Christian communion is a ceremony devoted to remembering Christ and how he died for our sins and in that sense remembering the ancient ideals regarding the Oedipus complex. In our secularizing world and the decline in dogmatic adherence to a religion, how will the urge for a son to murder their father be represented in society? Since totemism both religious and social, can society and social practices find a new outlet for human instinct? If not, will society remain patriarchal without a representative Oedipus complex maintaining male superiority?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.