You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Jean Laplanche is one of a small handful of analysts whose creativity in the realm of psychoanalytic theory is matched by a rigorous and systematic reworking of basic Freudian concepts. Most of us in the English-speaking world first became aware of Laplanche's talent through the justly honored The Language of Psycho-Analysis (1967), a reference work coauthored with J.-B. Pontalis that remains, in my estimation, unmatched in the field. Over time, Laplanche's writings have become more familiar to us, in no small measure through the tireless efforts of Jonathan House. To House we owe a debt of gratitude for allowing JAPA to publish—for the first time in English—Laplanche's mischievously titled “Should We Burn Melanie Klein?” Laplanche's paper was given originally as a presentation in Mexico in 1981. Its title, though certainly jarring to some, in fact signals Laplanche's deep respect for Klein's intrepid push into the nether reaches of the psyche, as well as her willingness to populate this territory with a variety of figures (objects partial and whole), positions (paranoid-schizoid and depressive), and passions no less absolute than the instincts of Life and Death. But it is Klein's very fearlessness—or perhaps a presumptuousness that underwrites it—with which the admiring Laplanche struggles. As will become clear upon reading, Laplanche's critique engages fundamental questions regarding psychoanalytic theory and practice.
We have asked Jonathan House to write an introduction that contextualizes this paper within the larger corpus of Laplanche's writings. And we are fortunate to have illuminating commentaries by David Bell, Erik Gann, and Richard Simpson. We are all the grateful beneficiaries of their efforts.