The Psycho-Analytic Interpretation of Culture

The first psycho-analytic interpretation of culture as a whole was given by Freud in Totem und Tabu. After having killed the primal father, the sons of the primal horde identified themselves with him and forbade themselves the very things which he had forbidden them to do. Society and culture were thus erected on the basis of the post mortem obedience of the victorious sons.1 An implicit assumption in this theory is that of a collective unconscious. If we accept this assumption we are justified in interpreting group activities of succeeding generations as if they were performed by the same individual. Is it probable that mankind ever lived in the 'Cyclopean family'2 type of social organization? Since the publication of Totem und Tabu we have had corroborative evidence on the life of higher monkeys and apes and we know that what has been described as the dominance type of society3 is very similar to the picture so familiar to us from the immortal pages of Totem und Tabu. Moreover in many myths of primitive people we find certain traits which strongly suggest the 'primal horde' as opposed to the pure 'Oedipus' explanation.4

We find a certain radical contrast between the victorious brothers (sons) and the father; the latter may be a supernatural being or an animal or a demon, while the young heroes of the story are alone human in our sense of the word. Freud's assumption of the primal father's psychological attitude as being fundamentally different from that of the young males5 might be regarded as an explanation. In these myths we find an individual as opposed to a group and we find that the myths are placed at the beginning of human evolution. Institutions or human culture are derived from the tragic event, just as described in Totem und Tabu.

Let us assume for the moment that mankind actually lived, or the forerunners of mankind actually lived, in the 'dominance' or 'primal