The main objective of
including this Ferenczi's space, in
our site, is centered on studying, researching
and deepening his conceptualizations
because, while we were re-visiting the
different psychoanalytical contemporary
theories, it was more than surprising
the continuous re-encounter with his
ideas. And beyond his particular followers
devotion, the research of his theoretical
path makes it possible, to confirm that
Ferenczi's legacy is inevitably included
in all contemporary psychoanalytical
work.
Ferenczi was one of the most important
thinkers and leaders at the very beginning
of this psychoanalytical movement an,
particularly, uno of the true pioneers
in research this discipline. He was
one of the co-founders of both the International
Psychoanalytical Association and the
Budapest Psychoanalitic Association.
He was also the first professor in Psychoanalyisis
in Budapest. He, not only contributed
to the foundation and organization of
the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis,
but he was also one of the first "training
analysts", close to Jones in 1913.
Freud remembered him as… a Master in
Psychoanalysis…who…transformed to all
the analysts in his own pupils… (Freud,
S., 1933).
Nowadays he emerges as a complex figure,
both to traditional psychoanalysis of
and to Freud like a hero, a man of excesses,
a brave innovator, an "enfant terrible",
a dissident, a disciple and a "passional
friend". While some colleagues
considered him a pre-psychoanalytical
innovator and a fundamentalist militant
of the "Cruzade" of the necessary
recognition of the child abuse and trauma,
others regard him as the precursor of
the psychoanalytical relational developments
by joining the different threads of
the nuclear corpus of the psychoanalytical
thinking.
…You must not get surprised if in my
Nuremberg Conference you could listen
again to your thoughts and even some
of your own formulations. This happened
during my last Worcester lecture, I
sprain my intellect and I know that
I tend to plagiarism. While, I myself,
have surely made some analogies with
the rules with Plato's philosophers…
(Freud, S.-Ferenczi, S., february, 8,
1910).
All the contemporary psychoanalytical
theories include Ferenczi's ideas, through
its own clinical experiences: transference-countertransference,
the founding role of the mother in the
traumas, the confusion of tongues, the
terrific effects of the infantil seduction,
tact, empathy and the terrorism of suffering.
Said Ferenczian notions, today admitted
by all the psychoanalytical international
community, are still not attributed
to Ferenczi.
In a world like ours, where uncertainty,
dispersion and continuous transformations
would seem to belong to a new and present
dimension, Ferenczi genious had pre-announced
and described them. From that time,
the contemporary psychoanalytical bibliography
has revived and emphazised the notions
of creativity, empathy and, specially,
the intersubjective matrix, as a privileged
support in the psychic connstitution.
In view of Ferenczi's premature wisdom
(The Wise Baby) we cannot do anything
more but recognize ourselves as his
disciples, while our daily clinical
work gets closer to his conceptualizations.
His ideas were first adopted by the
"British Independent Group"
(Balint, Rickman, Winnicott, Paula Heimann).
In Argentine, during the 50's, his countertransference
concepts reappeared with Racker, a sharp
and sensible psychoanalyst, whose trainer
analyst had been Helene Deutsch. Ferenczi's
thoughts migrated to the United States
with Clara Thompson and Harry Sullivan,
clearly stimulating Searles' thoughts
and the more recent Kohut American theorizations.
In Italy, the Ferenczian
conceptualizations were rescued from
an almost inexorable destiny of oblivion
by the worthy work of Egon Molinari
and Glauco Carloni. The two of them,
but in particular Carloni, worked really
hard on the Italian translations and
editing. This work was done before all
other European countries. Ferenczi's
work diffusion and the following researches
on his developments has been done in
the Italian Psychoanalytical Society
by Franco Borgogno since the end of
the "80s. Borgogno during the last
Ferenczi's meetings (Tel Aviv, Madrid,
Turín) has been in charge of
Carloni's legacy.
The continuous theoretical-clinical
questioning of his restless innovating
spirit, pushed Psychoanalysis to a more
complex comprehension of psychism and
subjectivity.
In such way, the story is re-told, re-composed
but also dis-adjusted, starting from
an "imaginary zero", in as
much as it is something impossible to
be said. Thus, when an originary trace
is named and re-composed, through transference,
and while the analyst is positioned
in "each patient arcan" -figure
of the origins and of the trauma cathected
at present- the patient could look at
himself and -without knowing- he transforms
his very origin.
It could have been possible that, realizing
these risks very early, Freud conceptualized
the Veleugnung (disavowal), bordering
the notion of cryptomnesia (1909-1914-1920-1925-1937)
in order to design disavowal/un-knowing/renegation.
Cryptomnesia is joint to a nucleous
of historical truth, placed in a forced
oblivion.
In this respect Ferenczi said (august,
4, 1932):…The antitraumatic in Freud
is…a protective instrument in front
of the vision of his own weaknesses…But
he also added: …our Master Freud frequently
repeated that it was not dishonorable
to get lost when...some journeys, into
the un-known, were started… (Ferenczi,
S., Clinic Diary, 1932).
Just as History is being re-written
as times goes by, how could we consider,
still now, Ferenczi's forgotten ideas,
in the majority of Psychoanalysis Institutes?
Meanwhile, Ferenczi's theoretical and
clinical interests were very different
from Freud's, it was not necessary that
Ferenczi had been considered -as it
occurred- as a dissident, because he
never rejected Freudian theorizations.
On the contrary, he was very determined
to develop some clinical questions,
that urged his own patients.
To become an original thinker has always
implied to question and even to formulate
different traditional theoretical postulates.
If this is what is considered as "the
heresy" -by a certain scholastic
consensus- the same Freud would be considered
"heretic", as it occurred
in the Viena of his time.
And even if the Ferenczian theoretical
and clinical developments seem obvious
to us, they were silenced by many generations
of psycoanalysts. He has been conferred
a more consensual recognition, despite
his condition of promoter and defender
of Psychoanalysis still remains discredited.
Not only did Ferenczi worked with determination,
convictions and an unbreakable intelectual
honesty but he was able to admit his
own mistakes, in a time when the therapeutic
mode did not correspond with their observations.
