Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge: The Fascinated and the Disenchanted

273 Pages·2015·1.21 MB·English

by  Aner Govrin

CONSERVATIVE AND
RADICAL PERSPECTIVES ON
PSYCHOANALYTIC KNOWLEDGE
Psychoanalysis really should not exist today. Until a few years ago, most of the evidence
suggested that its time was drawing to a close, and yet psychoanalysis demonstrated remark-
able resilience in the face of criticism, alongside significant resurgence over the course of
the last years. In Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge: The fascinated
and the disenchanted psychoanalyst and philosopher Aner Govrin describes the mechanisms
of sociology within the psychoanalytic community which have enabled it to withstand the
hostility levelled at it and to flourish as an intellectual and pragmatic endeavour. He defends
the most criticized aspect of psychoanalysis: the fascination of analysts with their theories.
Govrin demonstrates that fascination is a common phenomenon in science and shows its
role in the evolution of psychoanalysis.
Govrin argues that throughout its history, psychoanalysis has successfully embraced an
amalgam of what he has defined and termed “fascinated” and “troubled communities.” A
“fascinated community” is a group that embraces a psychoanalytic theory (such as Bion’s,
Klein’s, Winnicott’s) as one embraces truth. A “troubled community” is one that is not satis-
fied with the state of psychoanalytic knowledge and seeks to generate a fundamental change
that does not square with existing traditions (such as new psychoanalytic schools, scientifi-
cally troubled communities and the relational approach).
It is this amalgam and the continuous tension between these two groups that are respon-
sible for psychoanalysis’ rich and varied development and for its ability to adapt to a chang-
ing world. Clinical vignettes from the work of Robert Stolorow, Betty Joseph, Antonino
Ferro and Michael Eigen illustrate the dynamic by which psychoanalytic knowledge is
formed. Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge will be of interest to
psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and philosophers alike.
Aner Govrin, PhD., is a clinical psychologist and the Director of the doctoral program
Psychoanalysis and Hermeneutics, The Program For Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies,
Bar Ilan University, Israel. He is in private practice as a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in
Tel Aviv. He is the author of two books and various papers on psychoanalysis.
RELATIONAL PERSPECTIVES BOOK SERIES
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris
Series Co-Editors
Steven Kuchuck & Eyal Rozmarin
Associate Editors
The Relational Perspectives Book Series (RPBS) publishes books that grow out of
or contribute to the relational tradition in contemporary psychoanalysis. The term
relational psychoanalysis was first used by Greenberg and Mitchell1 to bridge the tradi-
tions of interpersonal relations, as developed within interpersonal psychoanalysis and
object relations, as developed within contemporary British theory. But, under the
seminal work of the late Stephen Mitchell, the term relational psychoanalysis grew and
began to accrue to itself many other influences and developments. Various tributar-
ies—interpersonal psychoanalysis, object relations theory, self psychology, empirical
infancy research, and elements of contemporary Freudian and Kleinian thought—
flow into this tradition, which understands relational configurations between self and
others, both real and fantasied, as the primary subject of psychoanalytic investigation.
We refer to the relational tradition, rather than to a relational school, to high-
light that we are identifying a trend, a tendency within contemporary psychoanaly-
sis, not a more formally organized or coherent school or system of beliefs. Our use
of the term relational signifies a dimension of theory and practice that has become
salient across the wide spectrum of contemporary psychoanalysis. Now under the
editorial supervision of Lewis Aron and Adrienne Harris with the assistance of
Associate Editors Steven Kuchuck and Eyal Rozmarin, the Relational Perspectives
Book Series originated in 1990 under the editorial eye of the late Stephen A.
Mitchell. Mitchell was the most prolific and influential of the originators of the
relational tradition. He was committed to dialogue among psychoanalysts and he
abhorred the authoritarianism that dictated adherence to a rigid set of beliefs or
technical restrictions. He championed open discussion, comparative and integra-
tive approaches, and he promoted new voices across the generations.
Included in the Relational Perspectives Book Series are authors and works that
come from within the relational tradition, extend and develop the tradition, as
well as works that critique relational approaches or compare and contrast it with
alternative points of view. The series includes our most distinguished senior psy-
choanalysts, along with younger contributors who bring fresh vision.
1 Greenberg, J. & Mitchell, S. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Vol. 1 Vol. 9
Conversing with Uncertainty: Practicing Influence and Autonomy in
Psychotherapy in a Hospital Setting Psychoanalysis
Rita Wiley McCleary Stephen A. Mitchell
Vol. 2 Vol. 10
Affect in Psychoanalysis: A Clinical Fairbairn, Then and Now
Synthesis Neil J. Skolnick & David E.
Charles Spezzano Scharff (eds.)
Vol. 3
Vol. 11
The Analyst in the Inner City:
Building Bridges: Negotiation of
Race, Class, and Culture through a
Paradox in Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytic Lens
Stuart A. Pizer
Neil Altman
Vol. 12
Vol. 4
Relational Perspectives on
A Meeting of Minds: Mutuality in
the Body
Psychoanalysis
Lewis Aron & Frances Sommer
Lewis Aron
Anderson (eds.)
Vol. 5
Vol. 13
Holding and Psychoanalysis: A
Seduction, Surrender, and
Relational Perspective
Transformation: Emotional
Joyce A. Slochower
Engagement in the Analytic
Vol. 6 Process
The Therapist as a Person: Life Crises, Karen Maroda
Life Choices, Life Experiences, and
Their Effects on Treatment Vol. 14
Barbara Gerson (ed.) Relational Psychoanalysis: The
Emergence of a Tradition
Vol. 7 Stephen A. Mitchell &
Soul on the Couch: Spirituality, Lewis Aron (eds.)
Religion, and Morality in
Contemporary Psychoanalysis Vol. 15
Charles Spezzano & Gerald J. The Collapse of the Self and Its
Gargiulo (eds.) Therapeutic Restoration
Rochelle G. K. Kainer
Vol. 8
Unformulated Experience: From Vol. 16
Dissociation to Imagination in Psychoanalytic Participation: Action,
Psychoanalysis Interaction, and Integration
Donnel B. Stern Kenneth A. Frank
Vol. 17 Vol. 26
The Reproduction of Evil: A Clinical Impossible Training: A Relational
and Cultural Perspective View of Psychoanalytic
Sue Grand Education
Emanuel Berman
Vol. 18
Objects of Hope: Exploring Possibility Vol. 27
and Limit in Psychoanalysis The Designed Self: Psychoanalysis and
Steven H. Cooper Contemporary Identities
Carlo Strenger
Vol. 19
Who is the Dreamer, Who Dreams the
Vol. 28
Dream? A Study of Psychic Presences
Relational Psychoanalysis,
James S. Grotstein
Vol. II: Innovation and
Expansion
Vol. 20
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.)
Relationality: From Attachment to
Intersubjectivity
Vol. 29
Stephen A. Mitchell
Child Therapy in the Great Outdoors:
A Relational View
Vol. 21
Sebastiano Santostefano
Looking for Ground:
Countertransference and the Problem
Vol. 30
of Value in Psychoanalysis
The Healer’s Bent: Solitude and
Peter G. M. Carnochan
Dialogue in the Clinical
Encounter
Vol. 22
James T. McLaughlin
Sexuality, Intimacy, Power
Muriel Dimen
Vol. 31
Unconscious Fantasies and the
Vol. 23
Relational World
September 11: Trauma and
Danielle Knafo & Kenneth Feiner
Human Bonds
Susan W. Coates, Jane L. Rosenthal, &
Vol. 32
Daniel S. Schechter (eds.)
Getting from Here to There:
Vol. 24 Analytic Love, Analytic Process
Minding Spirituality Sheldon Bach
Randall Lehman Sorenson
Vol. 33
Vol. 25 Creating Bodies: Eating Disorders as
Gender as Soft Assembly Self-Destructive Survival
Adrienne Harris Katie Gentile
Vol. 34 Vol. 41
Relational Psychoanalysis, The Hero in the Mirror:
Vol. III: New Voices From Fear to Fortitude
Melanie Suchet, Adrienne Harris, Sue Grand
& Lewis Aron (eds.)
Vol. 42
Vol. 35 Sabert Basescu: Selected Papers on
Comparative-Integrative Human Nature and Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis: A Relational George Goldstein & Helen Golden (eds.)
Perspective for the Discipline’s
Second Century Vol. 43
Brent Willock Invasive Objects: Minds under Siege
Paul Williams
Vol. 36
Bodies in Treatment: The Vol. 44
Unspoken Dimension Good Enough Endings:Breaks,
Frances Sommer Anderson (ed.) Interruptions, and Terminations from
Contemporary Relational Perspectives
Vol. 37 Jill Salberg (ed.)
Adolescent Identities:
A Collection of Readings Vol. 45
Deborah Browning (ed.) First Do No Harm: The Paradoxical
Encounters of Psychoanalysis,
Vol. 38 Warmaking, and Resistance
Repair of the Soul: Adrienne Harris & Steven Botticelli (eds.)
Metaphors of Transformation
in Jewish Mysticism and Vol. 46
Psychoanalysis A Disturbance in the Field: Essays in
Karen E. Starr Transference-Countertransference
Engagement
Vol. 39 Steven H. Cooper
Dare to be Human:
A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Vol. 47
Journey Uprooted Minds: Surviving the
Michael Shoshani Rosenbaum Politics of Terror in the Americas
Nancy Caro Hollander
Vol. 40
The Analyst in the Inner City, Vol. 48
Second Edition: Race, Class, Toward Mutual Recognition:
and Culture through a Relational Psychoanalysis and the
Psychoanalytic Lens Christian Narrative
Neil Altman Marie T. Hoffman
Vol. 49 Vol. 57
Understanding and Treating The Play Within the Play: The Enacted
Dissociative Identity Disorder:A Dimension of Psychoanalytic Process
Relational Approach Gil Katz
Elizabeth F. Howell
Vol. 58
Vol. 50 Traumatic Narcissism: Relational
With Culture in Mind: Psychoanalytic Systems of Subjugation
Stories Daniel Shaw
Muriel Dimen (ed.)
Vol. 59
Vol. 51 Clinical Implications of the
Relational Psychoanalysis, Vol. IV: Psychoanalyst’s Life Experience: When
Expansion of Theory the Personal Becomes Professional
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.) Steven Kuchuck (ed.)
Vol. 52 Vol. 60
Relational Psychoanalysis, Vol. V: The Origins of Attachment: Infant
Evolution of Process Research and Adult Treatment
Lewis Aron & Adrienne Harris (eds.) Beatrice Beebe & Frank M. Lachmann
Vol. 53 Vol. 61
Individualizing Gender and Sexuality: The Embodied Analyst: From Freud
Theory and Practice and Reich to Relationality
Nancy Chodorow Jon Sletvold
Vol. 54 Vol. 62
The Silent Past and the Invisible A Relational Psychoanalytic Approach
Present: Memory, Trauma, to Couples Psychotherapy
and Representation in Philip A. Ringstrom
Psychotherapy
Paul Renn Vol. 63
Cyclical Psychodynamics and the
Vol. 55 Contextual Self: The Inner World,
A Psychotherapy for the People: the Intimate World, and the World of
Toward a Progressive Culture and Society
Psychoanalysis Paul L. Wachtel
Lewis Aron & Karen Starr
Vol. 64
Vol. 56 Traumatic Ruptures: Abandonment
Holding and Psychoanalysis: A and Betrayal in the Analytic
Relational Perspective Relationship
Joyce Slochower Robin A. Deutsch (ed.)
Vol. 65 Vol. 69
The Cut and the Building of Relational Treatment of Trauma:
Psychoanalysis, Volume 1: Sigmund Stories of loss and hope
Freud and Emma Eckstein Toni Heineman
Carlo Bonomi
Vol. 70
Vol. 66
Freud’s Legacy in the Global Era
Relational Psychoanalysis and
Carlo Strenger
Psychotherapy Integration: An
Evolving Synergy
Vol. 71
Jill Bresler & Karen Starr (eds.)
The Enigma of Desire: Sex,
Longing, and Belonging in
Vol. 67
Psychoanalysis
The Legacy of Sandor Ferenczi: From
Galit Atlas
Ghost to Ancestor
Adrienne Harris & Steven Kuchuck (eds.)
Vol. 72
Vol. 68 Conservative and Radical Perspectives
Somatic Experience in Psychoanalysis on Psychoanalytic Knowledge:
and Psychotherapy: In the Expressive The Fascinated and the
Language of the Living Disenchanted
William F. Cornell Aner Govrin
“This book is an innovative study of the mechanisms that explain the vitality and
robustness of psychoanalysis as an intellectual enterprise. Using a unique methodol-
ogy of critical analysis and the philosophy of science, Govrin illuminates the dynamics
of psychoanalytic communities, transforming schisms and latent struggles over images
of knowledge, into essential dialectics of fascination and loyalty on the one hand, and
troubled criticism and doubt on the other. Arguing that both are necessary, Govrin
does not only describe the major ideational currents in contemporary psychoanalysis
but charts a possible future which he calls a post-postmodernist phase, in which dedi-
cation to psychoanalytic dogma and pluralism can co-exist. This lucid comprehensive
and ambitious book will be of great interest to scholars of psychoanalysis and the history
of ideas, as well as to practitioners and members of psychoanalytic communities.”
—Chana Ullman, PhD., President of The International Association for
Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP), Training Analyst, Tel
Aviv Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis
“In Conservative and Radical Perspectives on Psychoanalytic Knowledge: The fascinated and the
disenchanted, Aner Govrin treats the communities of psychoanalysis the way an anthro-
pologist treats culture. We have never imagined Govrin’s perspective, but instantly we
grasp its immense potential. This book is nothing less than a new way of thinking about
the field of psychoanalysis in general, and the pluralism of psychoanalytic theories in
particular. Govrin is confident that psychoanalysis is not only enduring but growing,
and he makes an excellent case for why that is, and how it all works. This book is so
significant that anyone interested in psychoanalysis will want—and need—to read it.”
—Donnel B. Stern, PhD.,
William Alanson White Institute, New York City
“This is an important contribution to the intellectual history of psychoanalysis.
Integrating philosophical, sociological and historical sensibilities with a remarkable
breadth, Govrin delineates how the interplay of two types of analytic communi-
ties—‘fascinated’ and ‘troubled’—has sustained the continued vitality of the disci-
pline. He gets underneath the usual shibboleths to describe the structures through
which analysts think their theories— ‘images of knowledge,’ ‘inventors, tinkerers
and implementers,’ and more. This book deepens our perspective on our own
professional identities. It will change the way that you look at psychoanalysis.”
—Stephen Seligman, DMH, Psychoanalytic Dialogues:
International Journal of Relational Perspectives,
Joint Editor-in-Chief, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry,
University of California, San Francisco;
Perspectives & Training and Supervising Analyst,
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis,
Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California
CONSERVATIVE AND
RADICAL PERSPECTIVES
ON PSYCHOANALYTIC
KNOWLEDGE
The fascinated and the
disenchanted
Aner Govrin