Unconscious Fantasies and the Relational World

What is the role of unconscious fantasies in psychological development, in psychopathology, and in the arts?nbsp;nbsp; In Unconscious Fantasies and the Relational World, Danielle Knafo and Kenneth Feiner return to these interlinked questions with a specific goal in mind:nbsp; a contemporary appreciation of fantasy in its multiform relational contexts.nbsp; To this end, they provide detailed examinations of primal scene, family romance, and castration fantasies, respectively.nbsp;...
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What is the role of unconscious fantasies in psychological development, in psychopathology, and in the arts?nbsp;nbsp; In Unconscious Fantasies and the Relational World, Danielle Knafo and Kenneth Feiner return to these interlinked questions with a specific goal in mind:nbsp; a contemporary appreciation of fantasy in its multiform relational contexts.nbsp; To this end, they provide detailed examinations of primal scene, family romance, and castration fantasies, respectively.nbsp; Each category of fantasy is pushed beyond its "classical" psychoanalytic meaning by attending to the child's ubiquitous concerns about sexual difference and feelings of incompleteness; her perception of the parental relationship; and the multiple, shifting identifications that grow out of this relationship.

Evocative clinical examples illuminate the manner in which patients and analysts play out these three core fantasies.nbsp; They are balanced by chapters that explore the generative side of these same fantasies in the arts.nbsp;nbsp; David Lynch's film Blue Velvet provides an artistic rendering of the primal scene; Jerzy Kosinki's life and work illustrates the family romance; and French multimedia artist Orlan's "carnal art" recreates the trauma of castration. nbsp;Unconscious Fantasies and the Relational World is a tightly woven study
of broad and basic questions.nbsp; It is in equal measure a contemporary re-visioning of the grounds of fantasy formation, a relationally informed guide to clinical techniques for dealing with unconscious fantasy, and an examination of the generative potential of unconscious fantasy in the arts.nbsp; Out of the authors' broadening and broad-minded sensibility emerges an illuminating study of the manifold ways in which unconscious fantasies shape lives and enrich clinical work.nbsp;