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This volume is made up of discussions between Kleinian psychoanalysts, mainly from South America, and a number of prominent Freudians from the United States. They met in Mexico which has, like Great Britain, both kinds of analysts in its Association, and the location acted both symbolically and in reality as a mediator. The objective of this first Pan-American congress was indeed to try to find common ground between the two contesting groups. The subjects chosen were ‘The psychoanalytic situation’ and ‘Termination of analysis’. There were also some introductory papers on the origins and aims of the congress and the role of Mexico, a contribution on the superego and one on the development of psychoanalysis in South America. Elizabeth Zetzel summed up.
There are two kinds of interest in this volume. First to see how psychoanalysts manage their conflict situation and whether the discussion produces any new ideas or synthesis. Secondly, there is the interest of the subject matter itself.
The discussion is formal and diplomatic throughout. The more ‘classical’ analysts reject the Kleinian thesis, or those parts of it that they do not like, with such statements as ‘I can't go along with …’, or they give papers that refer hardly at all to Kleinian ideas. For their part the Kleinians, who twice assert that they did not receive the papers to be discussed in time to say much, put forward their views with quiet and uncompromising certainty. If reproached for omitting features of analysis which play a prominent part in ego psychology, they reply that it is only so because of lack of time, and so on. It is all skilfully done, but on the whole it becomes clear that nobody is going to give way, though Angel Garmer, in an introductory paper, claims that much progress was made. Two exceptions to the general rule appear to be Elizabeth Zetzel and David Beres.
Of especial interest are the discussions on the analytic situation. On the one hand there are the ego psychologists, perhaps best