The Klein Tradition

"The ideas Melanie Klein developed on the basis of Freud’s work have now been taken up in many ways and in most centres of psychoanalysis throughout the world. As Klein often said she felt she had moved the psychoanalytic focus to ‘deeper layers’ of the unconscious. In these Chapters, the extraordinary ramifications of her explorations can be seen in greart detail. In some ways it re-treads the territory of Elizabeth Spillius’ two-volume work on Melanie Klein Today, in the 1980s; but, this new work brings us up to date with the sharp end of Kleinian thinking 30 years later. Klein’s own writing being dense and repetitive has always been difficult to master, and indeed sometimes disturbing. But this collection of original papers by a huge range of psychoanalysts demonstrates how rewarding the effort to understand these ideas has been. These Chapters do not just demonstrate the versatility of the ideas, but also comprise debates about issues not yet finalised, and for the next generation to venture into. If there is a public view that psychoanalysis has run its course in intellectual life, then this book gives the lie to that. Its Chapters confirm that Freud started the radical discovery of the human mind, but his results have nevertheless benefitted from others adventurously pushing on with his project." --R. D. Hinshelwood, Professor Emeritus of Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, and Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society