Writings
Vol. 36 No. 3 (2025)
The contribution of the Argentine School of Psychoanalysis to Fairbairn’s metapsychological theory
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Published: 23 December 2025
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Over the last few decades, the theory and clinical intervention model of William Ronald Dodds Fairbairn (1889-1964) has become widely known throughout the world. Argentina stands out as one of the countries where its influence has been particularly strong. In this work, the author reconstructs the main stages of the contribution made by the exponents of the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association to Fairbairn’s work, focusing particularly on José Bleger (1922-1972). In fact, the original theoretical model of this Author, with its concepts of “glischro-charged position”, of “agglutinated nucleus” and of the “psychotic part of personality”, may be closely related, through the concept of “schizoid splitting” commonly used by both of these authors, to the model of the “endopsychic structure” proposed by Fairbairn, to the point that it can now be considered as a logical and clinical premise essential for a more complete and coherent psychoanalytic conception of the processes involved in the structuring of human personality.
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Citations
Asociación Psicoanalítica Argentina (2024). Espacio Ronald Fairbairn. Indirizzo web: https://www.apa.org.ar/Cientifica/Espacios-de-autor/Espacio-Ronald-Fairbairn
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The contribution of the Argentine School of Psychoanalysis to Fairbairn’s metapsychological theory. (2025). Ricerca Psicoanalitica, 36(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/rp.2025.1008
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