The Dialectics of Marxism and Neo-Freudianism: Ideological Dogmatism and the Limits of Criticism in Socialist Albania
Keywords:
psychoanalysis; Marxism-Leninism; ideology; intellectual historyAbstract
This article analyses the book Neofrojdizmi: filozofi e njeriut të tjetërsuar [Neo-Freudianism: The Philosophy of the Alienated Human] (1989) by Artan Fuga, in which Freudianism and Neo-Freudianism are criticized from the standpoint of Orthodox Marxism. By situating Fuga’s book in the political and ideological con-text of 1989 and comparing it to an earlier work by Viktor Riska and Marianthi Zoto (Neo-Freudianism: One of the Theoretical Bases of Bourgeois Liberalism, 1974), the article investigates whether there was any ideological evolution between generations of Albanian philosophers. The analysis shows that, despite the softer political climate of the late 1980s, Marxist dogmatism continued to shape the treatment of Freudian and Neo-Freudian ideas. Ultimately, the article argues that the rigid ideological framework of Albanian Marxism-Leninism left little room for theoretical synthesis or critical engagement with alternative schools of thought, including psychoanalysis. This contributes to a broader understanding of philosophy, political thought, and ideological continuity in socialist Albania.
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