ABSTRACT
The Sigmund Freud-Melanie Klein Controversies brings together the heated debates which, from 1941 to 1945, divided the camps of Viennese tradition and of immigrant, ‘Londonian’ modernity. It was a strange turn in the destiny of sexuality when Freud’s family was forced into exile and London became the capital city of psychoanalysis. The latter grouping dates from Klein’s relocation to the English capital, several years before Ernest Jones finally persuaded Freud and his family to move also. Neurosis is based on the supposition of healthy development. It is this precondition which allows psychoanalysts to study sexuality and its expressions. The Kleinians respond that Freud did the same for sexuality in relation to its pre-Freudian status. With Melanie Klein the mother and daughter take the floor, in contrast to the phallocentric vision of Freud.
