Lost To Desire This book covers the work of psychoanalysts in post WWII France with patients beset by somatic problems with little manifest fan- tasy life, and how their concept of opératoire continues to inform the theory and practice of working with patients in crisis. The author explores what the new concept has elicited in a com- munity of practitioners – close to the École Psychosomatique de Paris – over a period of some sixty years. As a ‘skin for thought’ it facilitated change while preserving coherence, gradually beginning to attract further considerations. Important themes have included: the early groundwork necessary for the configuration of fantasy, the import- ance of a shared imaginary, the role of denial and obliterated mem- ories as a bond between people, emergency measures of a Me cut off from revitalisation, the effects of the rhythms and atmosphere at the workplace on family life, and the consequences of a crisis suppressed for lack of a holding frame. As psychoanalytic discourse adapted to the challenges, the original perspective changed aspect, moving from a systematic evaluation of what the patients did not produce to what the analyst had to fill in to make sense of the situation. Clashing with the terrain, French psychoanalysts raised important problems about psychic anaemia that are stimulating and deserve cross- cultural discussion. This book will appeal to psychoanalysts in practice and training who wish to learn more about this ground- breaking work on memory and trauma, and how to apply it to their own practice. Wolfgang Lassmann is a psychoanalyst in private practice, Vienna, and a member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association. THE NEW LIBRARY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS General Editor: Alessandra Lemma The New Library of Psychoanalysis was launched in 1987 in associ- ation with the Institute of Psychoanalysis, London. It took over from the International Psychoanalytical Library which published many of the early translations of the works of Freud and the writings of most of the leading British and Continental psychoanalysts. The purpose of the New Library of Psychoanalysis is to facili- tate a greater and more widespread appreciation of psychoanalysis and to provide a forum for increasing mutual understanding between psychoanalysts and those working in other disciplines such as the social sciences, medicine, philosophy, history, linguistics, literature and the arts. It aims to represent different trends both in British psy- choanalysis and in psychoanalysis generally. The New Library of Psychoanalysis is well placed to make available to the English-s peaking world psychoanalytic writings from other European countries and to increase the interchange of ideas between British and American psychoanalysts. Through the Teaching Series, the New Library of Psychoanalysis now also publishes books that provide comprehen- sive, yet accessible, overviews of selected subject areas aimed at those studying psychoanalysis and related fields such as the social sciences, philosophy, literature and the arts. The Institute, together with the British Psychoanalytical Society, runs a low- fee psychoanalytic clinic, organizes lectures and scientific events concerned with psychoanalysis and publishes the International Journal of Psychoanalysis. It runs a training course in psychoanalysis which leads to membership of the International Psychoanalytical Association – the body which preserves internationally agreed standards of training, of professional entry, and of professional ethics and practice for psychoanalysis as initiated and developed by Sigmund Freud. Distinguished members of the Institute have included Michael Balint, Wilfred Bion, Ronald Fairbairn, Anna Freud, Ernest Jones, Melanie Klein, John Rickman and Donald Winnicott. Previous general editors have included David Tuckett, who played a very active role in the establishment of the New Library. He was followed as general editor by Elizabeth Bott Spillius, who was in turn followed by Susan Budd and then by Dana Birksted-B reen. Current members of the Advisory Board include Giovanna Di Ceglie, Liz Allison, Anne Patterson, Josh Cohen and Daniel Pick. Previous members of the Advisory Board include Christopher Bollas, Ronald Britton, Catalina Bronstein, Donald Campbell, Rosemary Davies, Sara Flanders, Stephen Grosz, John Keene, Eglé Laufer, Alessandra Lemma, Juliet Mitchell, Michael Parsons, Rosine Jozef Perelberg, Richard Rusbridger, Mary Target and David Taylor. A full list of all the titles in the New Library of Psychoanalysis main series is available at https:// www.routledge.com/ The- New- Library- of- Psychoanalysis/ book- series/ SE0239 For titles in the New Library of Psychoanalysis ‘Teaching’ and ‘Beyond the Couch’ subseries, please visit the Routledge website. Lost To Desire The École Psychosomatique de Paris and its Encounter with Patients Who Do Not Thrive Wolfgang Lassmann First published 2022 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 Wolfgang Lassmann The right of Wolfgang Lassmann to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Lassmann, Wolfgang (Psychologist) author. Title: Lost to desire : the École Psychosomatique de Paris and its encounter with patients who do not thrive / Wolfgang Lassmann. Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. | Series: New library of psychoanalysis | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2021026092 (print) | LCCN 2021026093 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032132617 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032132600 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003228363 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalysis–France–History–20th century. | Memory, | Psychic trauma. Classification: LCC BF175 .L357 2022 (print) | LCC BF175 (ebook) | DDC 616.89/17094409045–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026092 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026093 ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 13261- 7 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 13260- 0 (pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 22836- 3 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003228363 Typeset in Bembo by Newgen Publishing UK To the memory of Jean- François Bion (born Dijon, 24th June 1668) absconded from his job betrayed his king gained a world and to the memory of Joseph Priestley (1733– 1804) native son of Yorkshire student of French, German and Aramaic caused a riot was persuaded to turn migrant Contents Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 1 Fragments of a debate 14 2 Background 28 3 Foundations 1: Pierre Marty 42 4 Foundations 2: Michel Fain with Denise Braunschweig 68 5 Basic mechanisms 1: Nicos Nicolaïdis 94 6 Basic mechanisms 2: Gérard Szwec 111 7 Configurations 1: Anna Potamianou 132 8 Configurations 2: Jean Benjamin Stora 153 9 Inquiries: The work of César and Sára Botella 166 10 Second thoughts: Claude Smadja 191 11 Entanglements: The forgotten pre- history of the opératoire 216 ix