»Verhüllung« der Psychoanalyse als akademische Strategie: Zur Dissertation des Psychoanalytikers Willi Hoffer (1922)

»Veiling« psychoanalysis as an academic strategy – On the doctoral thesis of the psychoanalyst Willi Hoffer (1922).

Willi Hoffer , who closely cooperated with (initially) Siegfried Bernfeld and (later) Anna Freud, had a decisive influence on the development of psychoanalysis, if not so much with his scientific contributions, then as president of various psychoanalytic societies and as editor of several important periodicals. However, little is known about his scientific beginnings. This article first traces Hoffer's early encounter with psychoanalysis, then outlines his student years in the 1920s at the University of Vienna followed by examining his doctoral thesis of 1922 in detail. On the one hand, it shows how Hoffer from a pedagogical perspective and not for therapeutic purpose was one of the first to interpret children's play on the theoretical basis of psychoanalysis, and on the other – and this is the core of this article – it examines the means Hoffer used in an academic environment rejecting psychoanalysis to veil his psychoanalytical argumentation in such a way that it was neither immediately recognizable nor provoked a negative reaction and rejection. An analysis of the thesis report confirms that Hoffer's academic strategy worked. An outline of his subsequent professional and academic activities as a psychoanalytical pedagogue until his emigration to London with the Freud family concludes the article.