Totem and Taboo

by Sigmund Freud

The first and shortest of the four essays concerns incest taboos adopted by societies believing in totemism. Freud uses examples mostly from the Australian Aborigines, gathered and discussed by anthropologist James George Frazer. He points out, with some surprise, that although the Aborigines do not seem to have any sexual restrictions, there's an elaborate social organization whose sole purpose is to prevent incestuous sexual relations. Freud discusses various ways in which the exogamy of...