A public inquiry into Freud’s influence upon Cambridge

Abstract

Undeniably, at just over 700 pages, Forrester and Cameron ’ s Freud in Cambridge is a big book. It is reminiscent of the kinds of reports that are produced by public inquiries: those major investigations set up by governments to provide an of fi cial review of particular events or actions, often with recommendations (that can be binding, or not). This, then, is the fi nal report of the public inquiry into the in fl uence of Freud upon Cambridge, despite Freud never having set foot in Cambridge. The purpose of the inquiry is to counter the suggestion that Freud had no signi fi cant impact on the intellectual life of Cambridge – and therefore that Cambridge is not, and never has been, subject to the charms and seductions of psychoanalytic thought. More than this, the argument is that Cambridge ’ s Freudian in fl uences have been forgotten, hidden and (perhaps) repressed. As in any public inquiry, searching for evidence of Freud ’ s in fl uence requires the work of forensically attentive detectives: tirelessly gathering scraps of information; carefully assembling fragments into a coherent whole; meticulously laying out events, actions, timelines and pathologies. No clue too small to be overlooked. No lead to be left dangling. This book is a work of indefatigable researchers, determined to lay out all evidences, to make their conclusions incontrovertible. Freud was in Cambridge. And he still is. The public inquiry is now closed – and we can agree with its recommen-dation: that intellectual in fl uences are not always visible or celebrated, and tracing them out requires fortitude, determination and a forensic attention to detail. And also creativity. Creativity? Yes, the Forrester and Cameron inquiry into the in fl uence of Freud requires the careful gathering of facts about, and interviews with, leading fi gures (albeit posthumously). Yet this book also has another homologue: Freud ’ s own Royal