ABSTRACT
Wilfred Bion first landed in our midst in 1967, invited by Frank Philips, one of the founders of the Sao Paulo Society, who had earlier trained in London and undergone analysis with both Klein and Bion. Our colleagues are unanimous in describing the profound impression this British psychoanalyst had upon our analytic milieu and the deep impact of his thought on the Brazilian Psychoanalytic Society of São Paulo. Almost immediately, his work came to predominate over the classical Kleinianism that had preceded it, offering a breath of innovation and stimulating ever deeper studies into the psyche and the analytic process. This situation lasted to the end of the 1980s, when its supremacy began to be questioned and was followed by an opening to other schools of thought and to a renewed interest in Freud’s work. Bion, however, never ceased to be studied—and I believe it is no exaggeration to assert that to date his writings are one of the identifying marks of the São Paulo Society. The work of a great author instigates new intellectual adventures for those who investigate it—and this book bears witness to one of the products of this shared trajectory.
