400: Universal Phantasies
Instructors
Howard Bliwise, M.D.
Lissa Weinstein, Ph.D.
September 13 – November 29, 2023
Wednesdays, 7:00 – 8:25 pm
No class: 11/22
Co-requisites
Candidates must have or have had at least two cases in supervised psychoanalysis to be eligible for upper level courses.
Course Description
Universal themes that arise over the course of development and influence the nature and function of phantasies will be studied. These will include Pre-Oedipal, Oedipal-derived phantasies, and themes of Death and Immortality. Dreams will be used as a basis for understanding the structure and meaning of phantasies. Themes of childhood and screen memories are used to approach phantasies as “early history.” The kinship to myths will be explored as well as the use of myths as vehicles for universal phantasies. Finally, the role of phantasies-myths in shaping the personality will be studied. Clinical material will be used throughout the course.
Educational Objectives: Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
- describe the influence of phantasy on personality development, as well as the influence of development on phantasy.
- distinguish the views of Klein, Bion, and Freud on phantasy.
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS ARE CONFIRMED.
I. Introduction
CLASS 1: September 13, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Arlow, J. (1969). Fantasy, Memory, and Reality Testing. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 38: 28-51.
Freud, S. (1908). Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming, Standard Edition 9: 142-153.
Shapiro, T. (1990). Unconscious Fantasy: Introduction. Journal of American Psychoanalytic Association, 38: 39-46.
II. Fantasy
CLASS 2: September 20, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Levy, S.T. and Inderbitzin, L.B. (2001). Fantasy and Psychoanalytic Discourse. Int. Journal of Psychoanalysis, 82: 795-804.
Sandler, J. (1986). Reality and the Stabilizing Function of Unconscious Fantasy. Bull. Anna Freud Centre, 9: 177-192.
Segal, H. (1994). Phantasy and reality. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 75: 395-401.
Spillius, E.B (2001). Freud and Klein on the Concept of Phantasy. Int. Journal of Psychoanalysis, 82: 361-373.
SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS
Bohleber, W., Jiménez, J.P., Scarfone, D., Varvin, S. and Zysman, S. (2015). Unconscious Phantasy and its Conceptualizations: An Attempt at Conceptual Integration. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 96(3):705-730.
Bronstein, C. (2015). Finding Unconscious Phantasy in the Session: Recognizing Form. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 96(4):925-944.
III. Fantasy and Memory
CLASS 3: September 27, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1899), “Screen Memories,” S.E., 3: 301-332.
Freud, S. (1901), “Childhood Memories and Screen Memories,” S.E., 6: 43-52.
Freud, S. (1910), “Leonardo da Vinci: A Memory of His Childhood,” S.E., 11: 82-95.
Hampl, P. (2005). Memory and Imagination. In R. Root and M. Steinberg (Eds.), The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction (3rd ed., pp. 306-315). New York: Pearson Longman.
Schacter, D.L. (1996). On Remembering: A Telescope Pointed at Time. In Searching for Memory, Basic Books: New York, 15-38
IV. Fantasies, Dreams and Delusions
CLASS 4: October 4, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Britton, R. (1995). Reality and Unreality in Phantasy and Fiction. In On Freud’s Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming, Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 82-106.
Ferro, A. (2002). Some implications of Bion’s thought: The waking dream and narrative derivatives. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 83: 597-607.
Freud, S. (1906), Jensen’s Gradiva. S.E. 9: 7-40.
Stein, M. H. (1989). How Dreams are Told: Secondary Revision—The Critic, the Editor, and the Plagiarist. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 37:65-88.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Weinstein, L. & Ellman, S. (2012) It’s only a dream. Physiological and developmental contributions to the feeling of reality in dreaming. The Significance of Dreams: Bridging Clinical and Extraclinical Research in Psychoanalysis. P. Fonagy, H. Kachele, M Leuzinger-Bohleber, D. Taylor, eds. (pp.127-148). London: Karnac
V. Developmental and Attachment Theories in Fantasy
CLASS 5: October 11, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Bach, S. (1977). On narcissistic fantasies. The International Review of Psychoanalysis, 4: 281-293.
Emde, R. (1995), “Fantasy and Beyond – A Current Developmental Perspective on Freud’s “Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming,” On Freud’s Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming,” Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 133-163.
Erreich, A. (2003). A Modest Proposal: (Re)Defining Unconscious Fantasy. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 72:541-574.
Hughes, T. (1997). Tales from Ovid. New York: Farrar Strauss and Giroux. [Read pp. 49-62]
Shane, M. & Shane, E. (1990). Unconscious Fantasy: Developmental and Self-Psychological Considerations. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 38:75-92.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Cortazar, J. (1985). “Bestiary” in Blow-Up and Other Stories. Translated by P. Blackburn. New York: Pantheon Books pp. 77-98
Shustorovich, E., & Weinstein, L. (2010). Universal fantasy in latency: Separation, attachment and sexuality in Julio Cortazar’s “Bestiary.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 91:1465 – 1482.
VI. Infantile Sexuality and the Oedipus Complex
CLASS 6: October 18, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Abrams, S. (1984). Fantasy and Reality in the Oedipal Phase—A Conceptual Overview. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 39:83-100.
Freud, S. (1908), On the Sexual Theories of Children, S.E. 9: 205-226. (on PEP)
Freud, S. (1913), The Theme of the Three Caskets, S.E. 12: 289-301. (on PEP)
Freud, S. (1924), Dissolution of the Oedipus Complex, S.E. 19: 173-179. (on PEP)
Palombo, S. R. (1994). Oedipus and the Sphinx: Triumph and Catastrophe. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 42:635-653.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Balsam, R. H. (2015). Oedipus Rex: Where are We Going, Especially with Females? Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 84: 555-588.
VII. Family Romance
CLASS 7: October 25, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1909), Family Romance, S.E. 9: 235-241. (on PEP)
Freud, S. (1910), Contribution to the Psychology of Love, S.E. 11: 163-175. (on PEP)
Greenacre, P. (1958). The Impostor. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 27:359-382.
VIII. Fantasy, Mythology and Psychology
CLASS 8: November 1, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Arlow, J. A. (1961). Ego Psychology and the Study of Mythology. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 9:371-393.
Barrie, J. M., In Frank, J., & Torrey, M. (1957). Peter Pan. New York: Random House.
Freud, S. (1932). The Acquisition and Control of Fire. Standard Edition, 22: 187-193.
Hughes, T. ( 1997). Tales from Ovid. New York: Farrar Strauss and Giroux. Selections to be arranged.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Graves, R. (1957). The Greek Myths. New York: George Braziller Inc. [Read Introduction]
Meisel, F. L. (1977). The Myth of Peter Pan. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 32:545-563.
IX. Fantasy and Character
CLASS 9: November 8, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Abend, S. M. (1990). Unconscious Fantasies, Structural Theory, and Compromise Formation. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 38:61-73.
Freud, S. (1916). Three Character Types Standard Edition, 14: 311-313.
Kris, E. (1956). The Personal Myth—A Problem in Psychoanalytic Technique. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 4:653-681.
Shapiro, T. (1983). The Unconscious Still Occupies Us. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 38:547-567.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Nagera, H. (1969). The Imaginary Companion—Its Significance for Ego Development and Conflict Solution. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 24:165-196.
Reich, W., Character Analysis.
X. Death and Immortality
CLASS 10: November 15, 2023
REQUIRED READINGS
Arlow, J.A. (1982). Scientific Cosmogony, Mythology, and Immortality. Psychoanal Q., 51:177-195.
Bliwise H. (in preparation) Beethoven’s Last Piano Sonata.
Freud, S. (1915), Our Attitude Towards Death, S.E. 14: 289-300. (on PEP)
Freud, S. (1923), The Ego and Id, S.E. 19: 58-59. (on PEP)
Freud, S. (1915). Mourning and Melancholia. S.E. 14: 247-243. (on PEP)
Schulz, B. (1989). Sanitorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. In The Collected Fiction of Bruno Schulz. New York: Walker and Company (pp. 242- 272).
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