Transposition from Freud to Freud: The Adaptation of Psychoanalytic Theory into a Netflix Series

Abstract

In this study, Netflix’s original series Freud (Marvin Kren, 2020 – ), adapted from Sigmund Freud’sbiography (1856-1939) was analyzed according to traditional adaptation understanding based on theloyalty to the source text. Freud is an eight-part Austrian-German series in the crime, thriller, mysterygenre covering the early professional years of Freud. The story of the series is created in connectionwith Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. In adaptation, a text can remain faithful during its conversion intoa visual narrative such as a series or a film, or it can be approached through an intertextual perspective.Since Freud was faithfully adapted following psychoanalytical theory, this study preferred essentialistapproaches in engaging the subject. Even though the first season of the series narrates the developmentperiod of Freud’s work, psychoanalytic theory is handled holistically in the analysis part of the study. Asa result of the analysis, it was observed that although mystery and crime events were added to Freud’sbiography, the hierarchy was preserved between the source text and Freud series. Hence, this study aimsto contribute to the existing literature by engaging in a psychoanalytical analysis of an online series inan interdisciplinary way.

Keywords

• psikanalitik teori
• sigmund freud
• uyarlama
• netflix dizisi
• televizyon çalışmaları
• psychoanalytic theory
• sigmund freud
• adaptation
• netflix series
• television studies