A Psychoanalytic Method of Exploring the Primitive Religions of The Aboriginals of Australia, Africa and America in the Work "Totem and Taboo" by S. Freud

Il&#039;ya M. Ovdin

doi:10.31804/2782-540X-2025-4-1-63-79

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A PSYCHOANALYTIC METHOD OF EXPLORING THE PRIMITIVE RELIGIONS OF THE ABORIGINALS OF AUSTRALIA, AFRICA AND AMERICA IN THE WORK "TOTEM AND TABOO" BY S. FREUD A Psychoanalytic Method of Exploring the Primitive Religions of The Aboriginals of Australia, Africa and America in the Work "Totem and Taboo" by S. Freud

АА Аа

Published in Asia, America and Africa history and modernity · Pages 63–79 · Rubric: Cultural studies

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31804/2782-540X-2025-4-1-63-79

Received: 13.01.2025 Accepted: 04.03.2025 Published: 13.03.2025

Authors

Il'ya M. Ovdin

ABSTRACT

The article considers the psychoanalytical approach of S. Freud to the study of primitive religions in the work «Totem and Taboo». To reveal the connection between the emergence of monotheistic religions and ancient views of religious thought, «The Man Moses and Monotheistic Religion» is also analyzed. For a comprehensive study of this problematic, the theoretical basis of S. Freud's concept of religion, its ideological origins are identified, which are revealed, in particular, in co-operation with J. Breuer, M. Charcot and in the use of the writings of his time. On the basis of textual and conceptual analyses, it is concluded that primitive religions are built around the innate «Oedipus complex» in unity with the Darwinist concept of natural selection. The satisfaction of the desire for annihilation in antiquity led to successive «patricide», the origin of primitive beliefs, and the emergence of archetypes and prohibitions. As revealed from the analysis, totemism unites the collective neurosis into a single system of actions through which past events are ambivalently reproduced. On the one hand, through rituals, regret is expressed for the murder committed by the ancestors, which is accompanied by gifts and prohibitions on the encroachment of what belonged to the father to atone for the guilt. There is also the transfer of the father's qualities to tribal leaders, objects and animals to stabilize the tribe's psyche. On the other hand, there is joy as one's latent urges are satisfied in killing a «status rival». From this also arises the fear of spirits and the prohibition of marriage within the tribe. Thus, the specificity of primitive beliefs largely determined the nature of monotheistic religions. S. Freud introduces the phenomenon of patricide into the concept of the origin of Judaism and defines the prerequisites for the formation of religious laws in memory of the Egyptian leader of Israel – Moses

KEYWORDS

primitive religions, psychoanalysis, Freud, psychology of religion, religious studies

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Ovdin I. M. A Psychoanalytic Method of Exploring the Primitive Religions of The Aboriginals of Australia, Africa and America in the Work "Totem and Taboo" by S. Freud // Asia, America and Africa history and modernity. 2025. no. 1. pp. 63-79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31804/2782-540X-2025-4-1-63-79. (Date of access 07.09.2026).

MLA

Il'ya M. Ovdin. "A Psychoanalytic Method of Exploring the Primitive Religions of The Aboriginals of Australia, Africa and America in the Work "Totem and Taboo" by S. Freud." Asia, America and Africa history and modernity 4.1 (2025): 63-79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31804/2782-540X-2025-4-1-63-79.

APA

Ovdin I. M. (2025). A Psychoanalytic Method of Exploring the Primitive Religions of The Aboriginals of Australia, Africa and America in the Work "Totem and Taboo" by S. Freud. Asia, America and Africa history and modernity, 4(1), 63-79. https://doi.org/10.31804/2782-540X-2025-4-1-63-79

Chicago

Il'ya M. Ovdin. "A Psychoanalytic Method of Exploring the Primitive Religions of The Aboriginals of Australia, Africa and America in the Work "Totem and Taboo" by S. Freud." Asia, America and Africa history and modernity 4, no. 1 (2025): 63-79. https://doi.org/10.31804/2782-540X-2025-4-1-63-79.

WIKI

{{cite journal | author = Ovdin I. M. | title = A Psychoanalytic Method of Exploring the Primitive Religions of The Aboriginals of Australia, Africa and America in the Work "Totem and Taboo" by S. Freud | journal = Asia, America and Africa history and modernity | year = 2025 | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 63-79 | doi = 10.31804/2782-540X-2025-4-1-63-79 }}

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