SOPHIE'S WORLD
(Sofies verden), by Jostein Gaarder (JG), translated from Norwegian into American by Paulette Møller (PM)Guestbook | Guestmap | Discussion forum | Inspired by...
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| CH = chapter, P = page, L = line, C = comment, N = Norwegian, T = (alternative) translation, usually closer to the original text, TTR = Two-Tier Reality (metaphysical system bridging East and West) |
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CHAPTER 31: FREUD (PP356-370) |
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| P356 L5: Breakfast is ready T: Ready for breakfast? L19: She rested the oars in the oarlocks T: freed the oars from the rowlocks L27: fathom T: admit | ||||||||
| P357 L5: (She had to admit that) the ring binder was (T: certainly) a fantastic present L8: She would certainly teach him a lesson, even before he got home T: He would get something to think about on his way home L9: the two of them C: i.e. Sophie and Alberto L10: She could just see him running around like mad T: Perhaps he would be bustling about like a pixie L12(cont): Hilde was now quite herself again T: Soon Hilde had calmed down completely L13: where she was careful to make it fast T: and made it fast L13(cont): After breakfast, she sat at the table (T: At the breakfast table, she sat) for a long time L14: It felt good to be able to talk about something as ordinary as whether the egg was a trifle (C: Strange egg!) (T: It was so good to be able to say that the egg was nice but perhaps a little) too soft C: Ah, the delights of domesticity! L24: He had adopted a very ceremonial posture (T: had struck a very solemn pose), but the only thing he had with him (T: all he was wearing) was the crown on his head L28: This caused the naked man some consternation T: upset the naked man somewhat | ||||||||
| P358 L1: prearranged T: secret L4: probably to join company with T: perhaps to meet L11: do T: arrange L25: (Freud's) theory of the unconscious is necessary to an understanding of what a human being is C: No, but knowledge of Freudian theory is necessary to understand what people now think a human being is L28: man T: a person L30: no T: hardly an L38: irrational impulses can be an (C: a deviant) expression of basic drives or needs L39(cont): The human sexual drive ... is just as basic as the baby's instinct to suckle C: And neither is 'irrational' L41: Yes? T: I see | ||||||||
| P359 L1: these basic needs can be disguised or "sublimated" T: transformed/perverted L5: made him T: he became L12: a type of therapy that we could call the (T: a sort of) archeology of the soul T: mind L19: B.C. T: A.D. L21: In a similar way (C: Is it similar?), the psychoanalyst ... can dig deep (T: dig back) into the patient's mind C: Doubtful metaphor L24: we store the memory (T: memories) of all our experiences deep inside us C: Highly subjective memories, perhaps including memories of imagined or dreamed events L25(cont): Yes, I see T: Now I understand L27: suppress T: forget L28: gnawing away at the patient's resources C: Meaning? L30: he or she can help the patient (T: he or she (C: i.e. the patient) can) "be done with it" and get well again C: Maybe L38: diaper T: nappy | ||||||||
| P360 L8: No, obviously T: Of course not L10: accept T: approve L10: push them away T: set them aside L14: From infancy we are constantly faced with the moral (C: or immoral) demands of our parents and of society L15(cont): When we do anything wrong C: When we do what others (especially parents) think is wrong L17: Even when we are grown up, we retain the echo of such moral (C: moral?) demands and judgments ... Freud called this the superego L20(cont): Is that another word for (T: Did he mean) conscience? L21(cont): Conscience is a component of the superego C: Or vice versa? L22: the superego tells us when our desires themselves are (C: or are said to be) "bad" (T: dirty) or "improper" L24: Freud claimed that these (C: allegedly) "improper" (T: or "offensive") desires already manifest themselves (T: appear) at an early stage of childhood L20(cont): How? T: Explain! L29: over T: on L31: on top of the covers T: above the bedclothes L38: natural and vital for human beings T: a natural and vital part of a person's make-up/being L40: died down T: weakened/moderated. | ||||||||
| P361 L1: women T: female L3: This thought was on course for a frontal collision (T: was at the same time on a collision course) with her superego L5: buried T: pushed L14: soul T: mind L15: So we can give a general description (C: conjectural, not scientific) of the human psyche L27: the sort of thing we have made an effort to forget because it was (either) "unpleasant", "improper" or "nasty" C: Especially if seen in the woodshed L28(cont): If we have desires and urges that are not tolerable to the conscious, the superego shoves them downstairs T: to the conscious - or to the superego - then we shove them down into the cellar L31: I get it T: I see L32(cont): This mechanism is at work in all healthy (C: unhealthy) people C: Did Freud ever meet a mentally healthy person? And how healthy was his own psyche? L34: Whatever is repressed in this way will try of its own accord (C: So now thoughts have wills of their own?) to re-enter (T: bob up again in) consciousness L36(cont): For some people it takes a great (T: an increasing) effort to keep such impulses under (T: away from) the critical eye of the conscious L40: I'd like to hear that! T: Go on! L41: whose ... commend C: Inserted by PM | ||||||||
| P362 L9: suggestion T: will L12: (there) you have a tolerably good illustration of the process of repression.
C: But my dear Doctor Freud, you have chosen to give us a very simple and straightforward example of a socio-psychic disturbance. Let us consider a rather more delicate situation: You are standing on the platform, five minutes into your lecture, and all is going well. Then, looking up from your notes, you observe a comely young woman in the back row making frantic amatory gestures in your direction, the kind of intensely feminine gestures guaranteed to produce instant amnesia in any reasonably healthy male lecturer. What are you to do? You can, of course, appeal as before for a few strong men to escort the trouble-maker outside. This will certainly get rid of the young woman, but the men will not return and you will be left with an exclusively female audience, apart from two or three old codgers who got trampled in the rush. And no matter how brilliant your lecture, those women will be so concerned about what the men can possibly be doing that you might as well be talking to an empty hall. Your only other option is to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and invite this disturbing young woman to join you on the platform. Either she will freeze with embarrassment and let you get on with your lecture - making a mental note to try and take her out to dinner afterwards - or she will boldly accept your challenge. Now there is no way of knowing what will happen when she arrives on the platform - you will just have to play it by ear - but you can be quite sure of one thing: the memory of your lecture will be firmly fixed in the forefront of your audience's conscious minds for the rest of their lives, no matter how hard they try to repress it. And after all, Dr Freud - after all, isn't that the name of the game? C: Anyway, one silly story deserves another... L14: I agree T: that it was a good picture L19: Unconscious reactions (T: may) thus prompt (T: direct) our feelings and actions L23: slips ... pen C: Explanatory phrase added by PM L27: this boss was ... a swine C: Euphemism for N: drittseck L29: Here's to the swine! C: More euphemism L31(cont): I'm speechless! L32(cont): So was the foreman T: no doubt L39: bishop's (T: long) nose L41: not yet developed T: not so strong | ||||||||
| P363 L1: (T: And more than that:) They tried to not even look at it T: they had to try not even to look at the nose at all L2: And (T: But) then one of them (T: the little girls) was asked to pass the sugar around T: serve the sugar (lumps) for the coffee L3(cont): She looked at (T: stood in front of) the distinguished bishop and said, "Do you take (T: Would you like a little) sugar in your nose?" L5(cont): How awful! T: embarrassing! L6(cont): Another thing we can do is to (T: And sometimes we) rationalize L7: give T: admit L8: unacceptable T: too painful L9(cont): Like what? T: For example? L13: Afterward T: Then L14: It was too (T: you felt) hot L15: You are reluctant to (T: will not) admit L18: We all encounter that sort of thing practically every day C: Do we?! T: It happens almost every day that we 'double-communicate' C: Risking double entendre L25: he was too shy to say so T: it was too embarrassing to admit L26(cont): Another thing we do is (T: Sometimes it also happens that we) project L27(cont): What's that? T: You must translate L31: admit T: to himself L34: filled with unconscious mechanisms like these T: full of such unconscious actions L36: fumble T: fiddle L36: what appear to be random (T: apparently randomly chosen) objects L39: these slips are neither (T: not always) as accidental (T: fortuitous) nor (T: or) as innocent as we think L40(cont): These bungled actions can in fact (T: In his view, they must be regarded as symptoms, for such 'mistaken' or 'fortuitous' actions can) reveal the most intimate secrets L42: all my words T: every single word | ||||||||
| P364 L5: healthy to leave the door ajar between the conscious and the unconscious C: Meaning in practice? L9: Frequently there is a (T: are) particular experience(s) which the person is desperately trying (T: which it is imperative for the person) to repress C: Then missing passage: T: Freud called such experiences 'traumas', a Greek word meaning 'wounds'. In therapy, it was important for Freud to try and coax open the closed door - or perhaps to open a new door. By working together with the patient, he sought to bring the repressed experiences out again. The patient is of course not aware of what he is repressing L11(cont): He can nonetheless (T: Even so, he may) be anxious for the doctor to help him (to) find his way back to the hidden traumas L16: random T: fortuitous L18: grown T: laid itself L27: our dreams are not random T: what we dream about is not fortuitous L31: Freud determined (T: came to the conclusion) that all dreams are wish fulfillments C: All dreams? L32(cont): this is clearly observable in children C: Children have nightmares too. Are they wish fulfilments? L33: But in adults, the wishes that are to be fulfilled in dreams (T: wishes - which the dreams will fulfil -) are disguised L34(cont): That is because T: For L35: we will (T: we think we can) permit ourselves | ||||||||
| P365 L2: manifest dream T: content L2(cont): This "apparent" dream content always takes its material or scenario from the previous day C: Not always L6: from T: right back to L8: understand it T: what it is about L9: in conjunction T: together L16: manifest dream aspect T: m. d. content L19: arrive at T: get to L26: like T: as L30: the fair N: Tivoli L38: work T: do L39: young (T: grown) man L39: ardent T: fervent L41: wants (T: to have) his cousin | ||||||||
| P366 L2: an embarrassment T: rather embarrassing L3: our dreams make a lot of detours T: with balloons and the like L5: we have repressed T: we repress L7: can still be intact T: be applicable / hold good L12: (T: You mean that) Artists became L13: predominant T: prominent L18: the spirit of the times T: the Zeitgeist L20: defense mechanisms T: mistaken actions L23: had T: exerted L25: sense T: way L26: attempted T: tried L31: art should come from (T: be inspired by) the unconscious L34: necessary T: important L38: Freud demonstrated (T: had shown) that there is an artist in everyone. A dream ... is a little work of art C: And the individual's world (secondary reality) is a great work of art L41: language (T: use) of symbols | ||||||||
| P367 L2: we dream for about twenty percent of our sleeping hours, that is, between one and two hours (T: two to three hours) each night C: So Norwegians sleep 10-15 hours a night? In winter perhaps, but in summer? PM seems to have been sceptical too L4: dream (T: sleep) phases. L8: A person who says he doesn't understand art doesn't know himself very well C: Understanding one's own art is easy; it's understanding other people's art which can be difficult L14: brought to light T: forth LL14/18: C: An elastic term, 'consciousness' L19: It takes a while T: goes slowly L21: all (T: archive-)drawers L22: all the T: just those L24: coming from some outside source T: not coming from ourselves LL27-33: (about) inspiration at work in children who are overtired C: Strange children they have in Norway! L35: expression T: development LL39/41: centipede T: millipede | ||||||||
| P368 LL1/3/8/9/17/19: centipede T: millipede L5: that would obviously be untrue T: fail by its own absurdity L11: left leg number 28 (T: 228) and then your right leg number 39 T: 59 L12: number 17 T: 26 L13: number 44 T: 499 L18: in the end T: then L20: That's exactly what happened T: how it ended L33: of T: for L36: create something T: make something new L37: Fair enough T: As you say L38: But all too frequently T: All too often L38: throttles T: stifles L40: will ever be T: is ever | ||||||||
| P369 L1: Darwinism holds that (nature's) mutants (T: mutations) arise (T: in nature) one after the other but only a few of them can be used T: are viable L2(cont): Only some of them (T: very few) get the right to live L4: So? T: Really? L5(cont): That's how it is when we have an inspiration (T: when we think, when we are inspired) and get masses of new ideas L6(cont): Thought-mutants (C: ?!) occur (T: arise / pop up) in the consciousness T: mind L8: reason ... too has a vital (T: important) function. When the day's catch is laid on the table, we must not forget to be selective L11: That's not a bad comparison C: Not 'bad', just ridiculous L13: out T: or out L14: and (T: for) no selection would have taken place C: If Alberto had used his reason here, this analogy would have been 'selected out' L17: creates what is (T: something) new L20: wondrous T: marvellous L22: You have to turn the sheep loose before you can start to herd them C: Sometimes it's better to keep those sheep in the pen L25: Sophie suddenly noticed a crowd (T: a whole orgy C: Wow!) of brightly colored Disney figures down by the lake C: Time to call out the sheepdogs! L35: imagination to (T: also for) us philosophers L38: Don't worry about it T: take it so seriously L40: He (the major) should be ashamed of himself! C: Aw gee! This time Alberto is right! | ||||||||
| P370: L2: comfort T: consolation L3: whole T: very L8: counted on T: taken into consideration L12: manifest dream aspect T: m. d. content L12: wields it with his pen T: is writing it out L18: are talking T: speak L21: elbow room T: free play / freedom L22: muddy T: murky L25: horizon T: heaven/sky. | ||||||||