Barry N. Malzberg
The Remaking of Sigmund Freud

The theme of space travel or, if you prefer, man in space as such, as developed by science fiction, clearly has philosophical and sociological implications and premises. Especially psychological in nature.

After all, we are talking about a purely literary expression used not only to indicate the process of exploration and study of the cosmos, or more simply also those that could be extravehicular activities aka EVA, spacewalks, but also to describe what can be the status quo of the human being or a particular individual in 'space' understood as a container. From which follows reflections on the condition of this man in a particular context and/or situation. And what is at the base of the therapeutic path if not firstly the identification and recognition of where we are and what surrounds us. Before proceeding to the exploration of that (again) infinite space that is our inner self.

There are two reflections at the base of this novel by Barry N. Malzberg, 'The Remaking of Sigmund Freud'. Published in 1985 and a 'summation' of five tales written and published previously over time and all featuring the replicant of the founder of psychoanalysis.

The first is the fundamental consideration that our thought and culture, that of the twenty-first century, have their roots in what was the work of the thinkers of the previous century. Which still today constitute what we can define as cornerstones in various sectors of human knowledge.

The second is the one the writer reveals through the mouth of Sigmund Freud himself, or rather his replicant, in the concluding remarks of the novel, when he states that he wants a twenty-first century that is not a repudiation of the previous century but an 'enhancement.'

Meaning in this sense, it is evident, something that went beyond the construction of spacecraft and space travel, in this sense placing the 'universe' at the center of the self and the individual and their enhancement as a basis for the improvement of society. Something without which no technological and scientific development could ever have led anywhere.

And after all, that the history of human thought has somehow stalled over the centuries, Sigmund Freud, killed according to chronicles in his studio in Vienna, Austria, by the chronicler and intellectual Robert McCormick, is something he has the opportunity to personally ascertain. Or rather in a 'mediated' manner according to what his replicant is.

One of his replicants, in truth. Who practically fails two more times after missing the chance to prevent his own end at the hands of McCormick. In the twenty-first century. When he fails in his intervention on a Venus base, a failure that will cost him even the nickname of Dr. Fraud. When, brought back to life again, he fails to save from madness and domination by Vegans (i.e., from Vega) the crew of the ship 'Whipperly'.

A failure that will, however, in some way be the last and the beginning, precisely through the relationship and experience with aliens, (so different and in the same way so similar to man) who intend his function as 'alienist' in a manner close to what could roughly be intended as an orthopedist, that he in the twenty-fourth century rediscovers himself and the foundations of his thought and understands that there is still a possibility for humankind. Just as for himself in Vienna in the twentieth century. Emily Dickinson. Mark Twain.

The great question remains open at the end of the story. Acknowledging the greatness of the thinkers of the previous century, what thought or path does man take in the twenty-first century?

In the last ten-fifteen years, there has been much talk about the western man, and in particular Europe, of common roots. Of something that should hold us together and constitute shared heritage.

Recent history and chronicles, however, clearly show us how this search has failed in the face of a disintegration in the social and cultural fabric that should be the basis of every community. Today, after a path of seeking to break down borders and cultural barriers, we experience a return to the past. A denial of thought understood as freedom. Democracy.

Does this mean what Sigmund Freud's replicant defines as the repudiation of the thought of the previous century?

I have always thought, I firmly believe that a man can live to the best of his abilities precisely what is his time. Which means that we have the best answers, those we should apply to the reality that surrounds us, and these can be difficult to find, we can fail, but just as Sigmund Freud could fail, who rightly as a man of his time, believes he can give his contribution in his time, in Vienna and the first half of the last century. To think that he has, had all the answers is to delegate to something that is no longer what is the present time.

The past, in truth, perhaps cannot give answers, but it leaves open questions. Ignoring them, pretending nothing is happening, marks the difference between repudiation and enhancement. In whichever part of the galaxy you find yourself.