The Trauma of Birth
book by Otto Rank
The Trauma of Birth (German: Das Trauma der Geburt) is a 1924 book by the psychoanalyst Otto Rank. It was first published in English translation in 1929. Especially with its focus on the connection between microcosm and macrocosm, it foreshadows Rank's most popular book, Art and Artist, published in 1932 and considered a masterpiece by scholars of art history. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, reacted both favorably and critically to The Trauma of Birth, responding to Rank's ideas in his own work.
Summary
Rank aims to apply psychoanalysis to "the comprehension of the whole development of mankind, even of the actual fact of becoming human.". The chief purpose of the work, according to Rank, is elaboration of how the form of the womb expresses the protective forms of art, myth, religion, philosophy and culture.
Publication history
The Trauma of Birth was first published in 1924. The book was published in English by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., Ltd. in 1929. The book was republished, with a new introduction by E. James Lieberman, by Dover Publications in 1993.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Trauma of Birth” is book by Otto Rank. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Trauma, Birth and book, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “book by Otto Rank” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7769995. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1924, 1929, 1932 and 1993.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Trauma of Birth” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.