Controversies in Freud Translation*

The Institute of Psycho-Analysis in London, in conjunction with its publishing partners The Hogarth Press, will shortly be publishing a revised edition of the 24-volume Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. In conjunction with Karnac Books, we are also busy preparing an edition of the Complete Neuroscientific Works of Sigmund Freud, in four volumes, to supplement the Revised Standard Edition. The two new editions will hopefully be published simultaneously, in the year 2000. The editors responsible for these editions have entered deeply into the controversies surrounding the translation of Freud, which have arisen in the literature in recent years. Those responsible for the Revised Standard Edition had to decide whether or not a new English translation of Freud's psychological writings was called for, and those responsible for the Neuroscientific Works had to decide whether or not they should follow Strachey's standard (but now controversial) renditions of technical terms. Obviously these two issues are interlinked, for the aim is ultimately to provide a uniform English translation of Freud's complete scientific writings, which will enable the reader to trace the many terminological and conceptual continuities that exist between his neuroscientific and psychological thinking.