ABSTRACT
This chapter hypothesizes the presence of a gatekeeping function of the mind that is likened to what the poet Garcia Lorca called the Duende. The work of the psychoanalyst is compared to the work of the poet, both of whom court miracles of creation, a glimpse of meaning into an experience that exists outside of consciousness. They both engage in their work to get to the elusive emotional truth (as Bion said). Drawing on the work of Green, Botellas, Ruth Stein and others, this chapter takes up the issue of unconscious representation, taking a process-oriented approach to the subject that places emphasis not only on the conscious understanding of the representation but also on the unconscious process believed to occur between patient and analyst prior to such understanding. A case illustration illuminates these points.
