This slim volume is part of the New Library of Psychoanalysis series sponsored by the Institute of Psychoanalysis, London, currently under the general editorship of Alessandra Lemma. The stated aim of this series is to promote mutual understanding among psychoanalysts and specialists in other fields (philosophy, social science, literature and the arts, etc.). In the process, the series also brings together what sometimes seem to be divergent approaches of Anglo-American and Continental European thinkers.

The book is a newly published English translation of a 2014 work by Laurence Kahn, former president of the French Psychoanalytic Association. At first glance, the reader might expect to be presented with a simple summary or overview of contemporary psychoanalytic theory or practice, with some connections drawn to the broader cultural or literary milieu. The book is succinct, yet deceptively profound. In her discussion of