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A dictionary of Kleinian thought should be welcome not only to Kleinians but also to non-Kleinians in that it offers, in a relatively straightforward way, the possibility of a better understanding of Melanie Klein's ideas.
In his introduction, Hinshelwood lists in chronological order the stages in the development of Klein's thinking, ranging from her emphasis in 1919 on the content of anxiety through to the importance she attached to envy in 1957. Because the author regards some of these concepts as fundamental to Klein's theory, the dictionary is divided into two parts. Part A covers, in thirteen main entries, the most basic concepts of Kleinian theory, whereas Part B deals with general entries in alphabetical order. At the end of the dictionary there is a full bibliography of Kleinian publications set out year by year from 1922 to 1987.
In Part A the entries take the form of chapters presented not in alphabetical but in chronological order in an attempt to show the evolution of Klein's thinking as it developed throughout her life. Each subject chapter starts with a comprehensive definition followed by a chronology which is a short introduction to the most seminal papers on the subject itself. Thereafter the subject is expanded with very clear subdivisions, ending with a complete bibliography of all the papers quoted.
The first chapter on ‘Technique’ shows how Klein's development of technique with regard to the analysis of children and to that of adults stemmed from her primary interest in anxiety and its content. It goes on to describe the importance she placed on the expression of fantasies, on their relationship to the transference, and on the necessity of early and deep interpretations of the infant in the patient. In this sense Klein's technique is presented as the important tool which enabled the development of her concepts during her lifetime. The differences from the classical technique of psychoanalysis and the debate with Anna Freud are fully explained.