Reading Melanie Klein

Reading Melanie Klein brings together the most innovative and challenging essays on Kleinian thought from the last two decades. The book features material which appears in English for the first time.

Kleinian psychoanalysis has recently experienced a renaissance in academic and clinical circles. Reading Melanie Klein responds to the upsurge of interest in her work by bringing together the most innovative and challenging essays on Kleinian thought from the last two decades. The book features material which appears here for the first time in English, and several newly written chapters. Reading Melaine Klein recontextualizes Klein to the more well-known works of Freud and Lacan and disproves the long-held claim that her psychoanalysis is both too normative and too conservative for critical consideration. The essays address Klein's distinctive readings of the unconscious and phantasy, her tenacious commitment to the death drive, her fecund notions of anxiety, projection and projective identification and, most famously, her challenge to Freud's Oedipus complex and theories of sexual difference. The authors demonstrate that not only is it possible to rethink the epistemological basis of Kleinian theory, rendering it as vital as those of Freud and Lacan, but also that her psychoanalysis can engage in powerful and productive dialogue with diverse disciplines such as politics, ethics and literary theory. This timely collection is an invaluable addition to the scholarship on Melaine Kein and catalyst for further debate not only within the psychoanalytic community but also across social, critical and cultural studies.

Reading Klein provides an introduction to the work of one of the twentieth century’s greatest psychoanalysts, known in particular for her contribution in developing child analysis and for her vivid depiction of the inner world. This book makes Melanie Klein’s works highly accessible, providing both substantial extracts from her writings, and commentaries by the authors exploring their significance. Each chapter corresponds to a major field of Klein’s work outlining its development over almost 40 years. The first part is concerned with her theoretical and clinical contributions. It shows Klein to be a sensitive clinician deeply concerned for her patients, and with a remarkable capacity to understand their unconscious anxieties and to revise our understanding of the mind. The second part sets out the contribution of her ideas to morality, to aesthetics and to the understanding of society, introducing writing by her associates as well as herself. The book provides a lucid account of Klein’s published writing, presented by two distinguished writers who know her work well and have made creative use of it in their own clinical and extra-clinical writing. Its aim is to show how substantial her contribution to psychoanalytic thinking and clinical practice was, and how indispensable it remains to understanding the field of psychoanalysis. Reading Klein will be a highly valuable resource for students, trainees in psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic practitioners and all who are interested in Melanie Klein and her legacy.

Gathers writings by the Viennese psychoanalyst concerning infant analysis, Oedipal conflicts, anxiety situations, symbol formation, and envy.

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 briliantly explains Klein's work, describing the startling discoveries that raised such opposition at the time. Now Klein's ideas are being recognized for their explanatory power, and her concepts of the depressive and paranoid-schizoid positions are in common usage.

Melanie Klein is one of the founding figures of psychoanalysis. In her lifetime, she was a controversial and powerful figure and her legacy has spread worldwide. Here is a comprehensive review of the many attempts to portray this elusive and complex woman, including the work of painters, sculptors, and portrait photographers. Its genesis was an article commissioned by the Melanie Klein Trust after a pair of delicate low relief sculptures of Klein by Oscar Nemon were re-discovered after eighty years in hiding. During his research, Roger Amos uncovered much material on depictions of Klein, including the fact that she had destroyed two significant works of art: a bust, also by Nemon, and a portrait by William Coldstream. What had driven her to destroy these representations of herself? Why did others survive? The complex and interrelated reasons are identified and discussed alongside the history of each artistic project, locating them in a narrative of Klein’s life. Through an understanding of the subject/artist relationship, Amos illuminates Klein’s professional life in a new, intriguing, and enjoyable approach. A must-read for all scholars and professionals in the fields of psychoanalysis and portraiture, plus those with an interest in Melanie Klein or aesthetics.

The author is well known for her exploration of Melanie Klein's work The author is very clear and her ideas are easy to follow