The Joy of Torment: On Sadomasochism

All registrants will receive their link to join via ZOOM. Attendees will also receive access to the recording on the Monday after the event, available to watch back for 1 month.

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2024 is an auspicious year in the history of sadomasochistic theory. Not only does it mark the 100-year anniversary of Freud’s seminal paper ‘The Economic Problem of Masochism’, but it also marks the publication of Salman Akhtar and Lisa Crilley’s important new edited contribution to the topic, ‘The Joy of Torment’. In this special online event, introduced and chaired by the Freud Museum’s Research Manager Tom DeRose, we will examine the historical roots of the psychoanalytic engagement with sadomasochism, and discuss how contemporary theory helps shed a new light on the phenomenon.

After an introduction to Freud’s changing views on sadism and masochism by Tom DeRose, Salman Akhtar and Marilia Aisenstein will discuss the findings of ‘The Joy of Torment’, as well as Aisenstein’s radical new theory of primal erotogenic masochism, as outlined in her recent volume, ‘Desire, Pain and Thought: Primal Masochism and Psychoanalytic Theory’.

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Speakers:

Marilia Aisenstein is a training and supervising psychoanalyst of the Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society and the Paris Psychoanalytic Society, and a BRASS International distinguished fellow. She is a former president of the Paris Society and of the Paris Psychosomatic Institute and editor and co-founder of the French Review of Psychosomatics. She has written many book chapters and 5 books, mainly on psychosomatics and hypochondria, transference, pain and destructiveness, and over 150 papers in French, Greek and English, which have been translated into Spanish, German and Portuguese. She received the Maurice Bouvet Award in 1992. She is author of ‘Desire, Pain and Thought: Primal Masochism and Psychoanalytic Theory’ (Routledge, 2023).

Salman Akhtar, MD, was born in India and completed his medical and psychiatric education there. Upon arriving in the USA in 1973, he repeated his psychiatric training at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and then obtained psychoanalytic training from the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute. He is Emeritus Professor at Jefferson Medical College and a training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has authored, edited or co-edited more than 114 books on psychiatry and psychoanalysis and several collections of poetry. He is also a Scholar-in-Residence at the Inter-Act Theatre Company in Philadelphia. Salman Akhtar received the Sigourney Award in 2012.

Tom DeRose is Research Manager at the Freud Museum London. His research focusses on the cultural and philosophical aspects of Freudian theory. His most recent publication is ‘The Battle for the Voice: Psychoanalysis and Music’, in ed. Tambling, ‘The Bloomsbury Handbook to Literature and Psychoanalysis’ (Bloomsbury, 2023). His chapter entitled ‘Freud’s Changing Views on Sadomasochism’ is published in, ed. Akhtar and Crilley, ‘The Joy of Torment’ (Karnac, 2024).

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Tickets: £10

Freud Museum Members and Patrons receive 20% off the standard ticket price on all events, courses, conferences and On Demand programming.

A limited number of £5 bursary tickets are available for those under financial hardship. Priority will be given to UK unemployed and PIP/ESA claimants. Please email [email protected] to apply for a bursary.

The purpose of this event is to raise funds for the Freud Museum London, which receives no regular Government income. We are grateful to you for supporting our independent museum as generously as possible.