On Freud's "Constructions in Analysis"

Reviews / Votes

Contributors: David Bell, Michele Bertrand, Harold P. Blum, Thierry Bokanowski, Stefano Bolognini, Jorge Canestri, Elias Mallet da Rocha Barros, Elizabeth Lima da Rocha Barros, Abel Fainstein, Howard B. Levine, Sergio Lewkowicz, Georges Pragier, Jacques Press, Mikael SundenThe authors, from different regions of the International Psychoanalytical Association, address the intriguing questions that this fundamental paper implies, such as: Interpret? Construct? Deconstruct? Re-construct? On that very general basis, how are we to differentiate between interpretation and construction? From a technical point of view, should the one be contrasted with the other? Does construction not also imply de-construction, with the subsequent need to reconstruct? What role does the counter-transference play in the work of construction? This volume shows the importance and complexity of this concept for psychoanalytic thought. 'This book is another remarkable contribution to the process of assessing Freuds seminal ideas from a contemporary perspective. The editors and the authors succeed in offering to the reader a comprehensive overview, departing from different theoretical points of view, of one of Freuds most challenging concepts: constructions in analysis. Once again, eighty years after Freud's original paper, this book demonstrates the usefulness of Freud's concept and the different ways it can be seen and used. The reader will be able to get a really contemporary flavour of it, which makes the reading of this book a rewarding and stimulating experience.'- Claudio Laks Eizirik, former president of the International Psychoanalytical Association