On Masochism: A Contribution to the History of a Phantasy and Its Theory

Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novels were the original source of the concept 'masochism'. However, the further development of this concept raises the question whether Sacher-Masoch's fantasies fit the later definitions of 'masochism'. The novel Venus in Furs is analyzed....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 1975-12, Vol.1 (2), p.277-324
Main Author: Lenzer, Gertrud
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis/Analyses/Analyzing
Cruelty
Dominance/Domination/Dominant/ Dominants
Fantasy
Freud, Sigmund/Freudian/Freudianism
Genitalia
History/Historic/Historical
Masochism
Men
Mothers
Novella
Parents
Relations, interpersonal
Sexual/Sexuality/Sexually
Spiritual love
Writing
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Summary:Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novels were the original source of the concept 'masochism'. However, the further development of this concept raises the question whether Sacher-Masoch's fantasies fit the later definitions of 'masochism'. The novel Venus in Furs is analyzed. In this novel, the image of a cruel, dominant woman & a submissive man is repeated obsessively, as in Sacher-Masoch's other works. At the same time, some images portray women as weak & men as dominant & cruel. A partial explanation can be found in the Oedipal content, with the weak M as son & the strong M as father. The novels contain a strongly illogical quality which presumably reflects a strong element of primary process thinking, centering around relations between M's, even women being turned into phallic figures. This pattern recurs in numerous German literary & psychological works of this period, in which the theory on innate bisexuality plays an important role. Freudian theory represents a powerful analysis of this syndrome, though Freud's identification of femaleness with masochism suggests that he himself was to a degree its prisoner. W. H. Stoddard.
ISSN:0097-9740
1545-6943
DOI:10.1086/493224