Freud as a Psychotherapist and Scientist in Iran

Abstract

This study deals with how the Austrian physician, Sigmund Freud, was perceived as a psychotherapist and scientist in pre-revolutionary Iran. The opinions voiced by the Persian critics, authors, and translators in the period under discussion reveals an approach informed by authentic culture or domestically originated thinking and assertions that substantiate the claim that Persian scholars and authors had already touched upon or even elaborated on the concepts brought up by Freud. The study indicates that authors and translators dealing with Freudian ideas are interested in understanding Freud by adopting an “imperialistic” approach in terms of discourse importation theories. Moreover, his discourse is co-opted as a scientific one in the period under discussion. This study may serve as a contribution to history of medicine in Iran – not least, that of psychotherapy – and can indicate how the evolution of a school of thought takes place when it is implanted in or imported to a new context.

Keywords

• iran
• psychotherapy
• authentic culture
• freud
• therapeutic