BLURRED BOUNDARIES AND POTENTIAL SPACES
D.W. Winnicott on Play, Creativity, and True Self

“There are in our existence spots of time,/ That with distinct
pre-eminence retain/ A renovating virtue, whence…our minds/
Are nourished and invisibly repaired…/…Such moments/ Are
scattered everywhere, taking their date/ From our first childhood.”
William Wordsworth

How does the capacity to play contribute to the meaning and value of our lives? What are the interpersonal conditions that facilitate the growth of a sense of spontaneity and of being alive? Does creativity depend on our emotional acknowledgment of the separate reality of other human beings? Do our richest moments entail, paradoxically, both our consenting to the dissolution of personal boundaries and our letting a space emerge within which something new might form?

This course will explore these questions in reference to the contributions of the psychoanalytic thinker D.W. Winnicott. We will also read and discuss the related work of other writers, including: The Soul Thief C. Baxter, Life of Pi Y. Martel, On Potential Space T. Ogden, The Negotiation of Paradox S. Pizer, Paradox and Process E. Ghent, Recognition and Destruction J. Benjamin, On Being a Monadic Subject B. Shalgi and M. Becker, Laplanche and Winnicott meet… and survive D. Scarfone, Winnicott with Lacan M. Ruti, The Ecstasy of Influence J. Lethem, The Accidental Plagiarist E. Campbell.

COURSE LENGTH: 12 weeks
DISCUSSION TEAM: Carol Fiedler, Anne Kotiuga, Daniel Schouela
FIRST SESSION: Monday, September 19, 2011 at 6:15 pm