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It is fitting that this essay by Stephen Cooper, one of the most innovative North American theorists—who draws on Winnicott for his own work on creativity—should explore this particular volume of the Collected Works, which he rightly characterizes as documenting the apex of Winnicott's extraordinary career as clinician and theorist. There are many things to consider about Volume 8; along with Cooper, we marvel at the astonishing power of the writing and theorizing accomplished in a two-year period.
As Cooper clearly notes, this volume has several “astounding” papers, breaking new ground in our understanding of the ontological functions of interpretation while simultaneously opening new vistas in our conceptualization of aggression. Interpretation is no longer fostered by the analyst's wish to explicate the unconscious but instead serves to establish a site for the play of thoughts, feelings, and language where patients can encounter who they truly are and who they are truly becoming.
Cooper identifies Winnicott both as creative theorist and as teacher; both roles shape the tone and emotional tenor of Winnicott's writing, its accessibility, and its modesty. As Cooper astutely notes, often in the work of Winnicott his tone and style can somewhat mask his powerful divergence from classical theory. Cooper helps us notice that Winnicott took us way beyond the world of object relations into a world of action and setting: where and how. Even if Winnicott's modesty was in part defensive, this way of writing sustains his lively engagement with Freud, Klein, and Bion. His work generously reframes and illuminates the ideas of these earlier pioneers, allowing them to remain essential sources of Winnicott's imagination.
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