Otto Rank Essay Research Paper Otto Rosenfield

Otto Rank Essay, Research Paper

Otto (Rosenfield) Rank was born in Vienna, Austria on April 27, 1884. Otto changed his name to “Rank” in young adulthood. He felt that this symbolized self – creation, which is his main ideal in life. Otto’s family was not wealthy enough to send him and his brother to college, so Otto became a locksmith while his older brother studied law. He loved music, art, writing poems, reading philosophy and literature. After reading Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, Otto used psychoanalytic ideas in his manuscript on the artist. Otto met Sigmund Freud in 1905 through his family doctor, Alfred Adler. This meeting was to prove very important for Otto. He took along with him a manuscript of his now published book Art and Artist, which is an attempt to explain art with psychoanalytic principles. Freud was very impressed with the young Otto and encouraged him to pursue a Doctorate Degree in Literature at the University of Vienna. With the help of Freud, Otto did attend the University of Vienna, and in 1912 received his doctorate in philosophy. He was 28. Rank was one of Freud’s favorite disciples. He used to call him “little Rank” because he was only 5’3” tall. (www.ottorank.com) Although Freud had discouraged Otto from pursuing a medical career, he often addressed him as Dr. Rank and referred patients to him. Rank was the secretary and editor of minutes for the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society until 1924.

In 1924 Rank published the book The Trauma of Birth. This book argued that the transition from the womb to the outside world caused great anxieties in the infant that may persist as anxiety neurosis into adulthood. (www.britannica.com) This book caused great controversy with the fellow Freudians because it challenged Freud’s concepts. This book is what caused his break with Freud and with the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. He then moved to the United States and continued to teach and practice his theories.

Otto developed a concept similar to Freud’s ego, which he called the “Will”. Just as the ego is the mediator in Freud’s theory, the will is along these same ideas. The will acts as a directing power in personality. It is seen as a positive force for controlling and using a person’s instinctive wants. Rank thought this to be a good tool for helping his patients with self-discovery and development. (www.britanica.com) He believed that the stronger a person’s will was, the more adjusted that person would become.

Rank believed that we are born with a will to be ourselves and to be free. He also believed that the outcome of our struggle for this freedom determines what kind of person we will become. He gave three basic personality types that are associated with the type of will we have. The Types are Adapted, Neurotic, and Productive.

The adapted type is what Rank would call the average Joe. They obey the rules of their society, authority and deny most of their sexual impulses. “ These people learn to will what they have been forced to do.”(George Boree) So basically these people are just the average anybody. They are the blue collar, tax paying, hard working, Americans who are just as well adjusted as they need to be, no more, no less.

The neurotic type, as described by Rank, are those who have a stronger will than the average person. “ The neurotic suffers fundamentally from the fact that he cannot or will not accept himself.”(Rank Art and Artist) However, their fight is constantly an internal vs. external battle. “They tend to worry and feel guilty about being so “willful”.” (Boree) They also tend to be higher developed morally. These are the do gooders of our lives. These are the people who try so hard to be well adjusted that they tend to “spaz”. I do understand though that they are better adjusted because they are constantly thinking about it.

The Productive type has also been referred to as the artist, the creative, the genius, and the human being. These types accept themselves for who they are and don’t battle for their own existence. “The artist not only accepts his personality but goes far beyond it.” (Rank Art an Artist) The artist created himself and then goes on to create a new world as well. (Boeree) I am glad that Otto thought so highly of creative people and artists because I agree that without them there would be no new or exciting images for us to enjoy.

Among Otto’s most well known writings are The Myth of the Birth of the Hero 1909, Will Therapy and Truth and Reality 1930, & Art and Artist 1932. These are the works that I will look at briefly.

The Myth of the Birth of the Hero tells the short essay form of many Christian and Pagan heroes. The book contains the myths of Greek Gods such as Hercules and of Christian Saints like Jesus Christ. The book is more of a history of the stories, telling them in a dry, chronological manner. Otto states in his introduction, “These myths will be given in abbreviated form as far as relevant for this investigation, with statements concerning provenance.” He proceeds to give many example stories of heroes. He then gives a standard formula for any given hero story. “The hero is usually a child of distinguished parents: a king or goddess. His origin is preceded by difficulties, such as chastity, or prolonged barrenness, or secret intercourse of the parents, due to external prohibition or obstacles. During the

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