Psychoanalysis has always had to reckon with the epistemology of the witnessing of the analysand, but perhaps it has only recently been reckoning with the discourse of the ethics of testimony. “Here I am” is the answer addressed to those who call on us to testify. And who are the people who have answered with a “Here I am” in this book dedicated to the places of the memory of ‘Mediterranean civilisations and their discontents’? The reference to the work of the same name by Freud (1929) is clear here, but what many of the authors and of the essays in it seem to have in common is the attention to the traumatic nature of certain places of the memory: theatres of wars, such as the wars in the Balkans at the centre of the contribution by N. Janigro, lines in the diary of a father, who miraculously survived genocide, that a daughter-essayst (J. Altounian) wrenches from oblivion, or even non-places of a memory in which the witnesses-survivors are the many refugees who have fled their homelands. As Bohleber writes, psychoanalysis began as a theory of trauma. In this book, the places of the memory are often the rooms of analysis, places of re-evocation of collective traumas which have not always taken place historically along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In some cases, the victims of collective traumas, undergone in the home Mediterranean countries, take their dramas of migrants and refugees to analysts in the North of Europe (as in the case of Varvin and Papadopoulos). In other pieces, neither the geographical origin of the analysand nor that of the analyst have apparently any connection with the Mediterranean. We are referring to the essay by M. Ritter and that of Halberstadt-Freud: however, in them, the consulting rooms are places of the memory in which the analyst reflects on the subject of trans-generational transmission of collective guilt connected with Nazism and with the Shoah, which also affected the history of Mediterranean countries. In other contributions in this book, the places of the memory are those of the Middle East caught up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From different points of view, three authors, Y. Gampel, J. Deutsch and H.-J. Wirth, speak to us of places of the memory where the collective traumas have not been assigned once and for all to the work of historians (as in the case of the Shoah and of the other genocides of the 20th century) as, unfortunately, they are still on-going.
Melanie Klein: The Basics provides an accessible and concise introduction to the life and work of Melanie Klein, whose discoveries advanced those of Freud and other analysts, deepening our insight into the unconscious domain of psychology in human beings. Klein began her work by developing a method of psychoanalysis for children, who suffer from anxiety and other, often unrecognised, conflicts, which enabled understanding of those crucial early steps in the development of human mind and identity. Although she initiated one strand of clinical and theoretical developments, many of her discoveries are well-regarded by other schools of psychoanalysis. The book contains four parts, as well as further reading suggestions and a helpful glossary of key terms. Part I introduces Melanie Klein in the context of her life, her early interest in psychoanalysis and her first discoveries; Part II takes up the development of her technique of child analysis and discusses the ways in which her insights and conclusions in this area influenced the technique of adult analysis and the more general understanding of the human mind; Part III focuses on further scientific and clinical developments in psychoanalytic technique – especially those referring to the understanding and treatment of serious emotional disturbance, e.g. psychosis or affective disorders; Part IV focuses on contemporary developments in Kleinian and post-Kleinian psychoanalysis, considering clinical, cultural, and socio-political applications. Each chapter poses a basic question at the outset, provides an account of how Klein faced this question and worked with it to develop her ideas, and ends by posing a follow up question to be addressed in the subsequent chapter. This book will greatly appeal to readers from any field seeking a clear and concise introduction to Melanie Klein. It will also interest researchers and professionals working within the field of psychoanalysis seeking a succinct overview of Melanie Klein’s contribution.
This book introduces the psychoanalytic principles of both Winnicott and Bion, to compare the ways in which their concepts evolved, and to show how their different approaches contribute to distinctive psychoanalytic paradigms that warrant further research. The book is comprised of five parts, each of which ends with a dialogue between authors, to provide an in-depth look at the perspectives of Winnicott and Bion on the following issues: the British Psychoanalytical Society; working with children and groups; the formulation of psychoanalytic principles; the consolidation of their ideas and new beginnings; and their clinical approaches. Structuring an analysis of Winnicott and Bion’s work in this way simultaneously acts as a comprehensive introduction to their thinking and provokes further research into the ways in which the Winnicottian and Bionian traditions interact. The Clinical Paradigms of Donald Winnicott and Wilfred Bion will appeal to all those seeking an introduction to psychoanalytic ideas and to these two schools of British Object Relations especially.
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