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  • Book
  • © 2016

Melanie Klein

Early Analysis, Play, and the Question of Freedom

Authors:

  1. Deborah P. Britzman

    1. York University, Toronto, Canada

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  • Examines Klein’s relevance for education through her understanding of the inner world
  • Discusses how Klein’s theory questions what we imagine as objects of learning and how we imagine learning occurs
  • Analyzes a number of deep existential, philosophical, and relational dilemmas on the nature of teaching and learning
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Education (BRIEFSEDUCAT)

Part of the book sub series: SpringerBriefs on Key Thinkers in Education (BRIEFSKEY)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vi
    PDF

  2. Preludes

    • Deborah P. Britzman
    Pages 1-11

  3. Affecting Psychoanalysis

    • Deborah P. Britzman
    Pages 13-24

  4. The Early Education of Psychoanalysis

    • Deborah P. Britzman
    Pages 25-35

  5. Away from Education: Step-by-Step

    • Deborah P. Britzman
    Pages 37-45

  9. “If I Were You”: A Phantasy in Two Parts

    • Deborah P. Britzman
    Pages 79-91

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 107-112
    PDF
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About this book

This volume introduces the psychoanalyst Melanie Klein to the general field of education and traces her theories of mental life as an emotional situation, through to problems of self/other relations in our own time. The case is made for Klein’s relevance and the difficulties her theories pose to the activities of learning and pedagogical relation.  Klein’s vocabulary—the paranoid/schizoid and depressive positions, phantasy, object relations, projective identification, anxiety, envy, and the urge for reparation and gratitude— are discussed in terms of their evolution and the designs of her main questions, all stemming from the problem of inhibition. Her contribution to an understanding of symbolization and the shift from concrete thinking to greater freedom of mind is analyzed. The essay develops the following questions: why is learning an emotional situation?  How did Klein’s life and larger history influence her views? What are her central theories of mental life? Why did Klein focus on anxiety and phantasies as making up the life of the mind? What is object relations theory? And, what does Klein’s model of the self proffer to contemporary education in schools and in universities?
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Keywords

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Authors and Affiliations

  • York University, Toronto, Canada

    Deborah P. Britzman

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About the author

Deborah Britzman is Distinguished Research Professor at York University in Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She is author of seven books, over 80 referred articles and is known for her contribution in education and psychoanalysis. Britzman is also a psychoanalyst with a small clinical practice.
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Buy it now

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

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