The Wagner Complex

(Free Scholar Press) Artin sets forth a psychoanalytic interpretation of Wagner’s Ring, focusing on the genesis and meaning of The Ring, but also exploring the Zeitgeist in whose atmosphere Wagner’s operatic creations and Freud’s psychological speculations both came to fruition. He argues that The Ring is not merely a fanciful adventure narrative, but presents symbolically the drama of unconscious psychic conflict. After 15 years teaching literature at various universities, Artin left the academic world in order to pursue his current career as a jazz trombonist.