AustLit

'Freud’s couch

'A horizontal body is sure to daydream, to fragment one’s sense of self and, more dangerously, prone to cultivate erotic thoughts. Lying down = letting your thoughts get away with you.

'Freud thought this to be perfect. His couch was a simple thing; wrapped in an oriental rug, upholstered with springs and horsehair stuffing. Fragments, nonsense, unruly words were spoken from that couch, words that did not, of their own accord, create a narrative.' (Introduction)