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What kind of person was Karen Horney? It is hard to give a single answer to this question. Certainly she was complex, full of contradictions and conflicts. She was attracted by her youthful reading of Zola's Nanà, and then, immediately after, she would be quoting the moralistic statements of Spinoza and agreeing with them. Loving and hating her mother, she couldn't stand the presence of her father, while she would also feel a strong attachment to him and his Norway.
She would write with joy about a Christmas passed with her family and would be full of admiration for her mother who, in honor of her father, offered the family a Norwegian punch, Juleklapp. At the same time, she would describe the cold look of her father's eyes, a look she confessed she couldn't stand. In her American years a trusted housekeeper, Sophie, who cared for the family, was also Norwegian.
She was an avid reader of the books of Karl May in her childhood, which describe the adventures of a young German who traveled the American Wild West. There he has many adventures with Winnatu, the Indian chief. Although these may be typical childhood dreams, they are also common escape thoughts for adult Norwegians, secluded in harsh Norway between snow-covered mountains and a violent sea.
Horney experienced in real life the end of the Victorian era, the exalting Weimar period, the Nazi tyranny, and modern America. In fantasy, through her father's stories, she knew Norway (her father's first wife was Norwegian). As someone who worked several years in Norway as a psychiatrist, I knew of her work there. I would like to describe the roots of her theory, as I came to know them in that country. In order to make my exposition more understandable and easier to share, I will make liberal use of artistic and literary references. Had I not been concerned about lack of clarity, I would have attempted to illustrate those roots through my direct life experiences.
In the little village of Blankenese, German is spoken softly;