The Case of Little Hans: A Ramble

Abstract

Based on declassified material related to “Little Hans” in the Freud Archives,
this article provides a detailed summary and interpretation of new background
information on the analysis of Little Hans. The author proposes a
contemporary understanding of the material, emphasizing epistemophilic
interests and death anxiety in Little Hans, in which his sexual researches
and anxieties appear as secondary to his discovery of painful emotional
truths about his family, and his difficulty communicating them. Freud’s
countertransference to Little Hans and the Graf family are reconsidered.