Memory, Myth, and Seduction

This collection of published and unpublished papers, skillfully arranged and edited by Deborah Browning, reveals the development and evolution of Schimek's thinking on unconscious fantasy and the interpretive process, derived from a close reading of Freud as well as contemporary psychoanalysis. Divided thematically, the first section concerns fantasy, interpretation, and the coconstruction of meaning in the therapeutic setting. A scholarly history and reappraisal of Freud's seduction theory comprises the second section, and the third, more theoretical section provides a foundation for understanding many current discussions of unconscious fantasy, dreaming, memory, consciousness, affect, self-reflection, mentalization, and implicit relational knowing.