Rivista di Psicoanalisi

views updated

RIVISTA DI PSICOANALISI

La Rivista di psicoanalisi has been the official organ of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI) since 1955, when this quarterly review was first published. Each volume contains approximately 180 pages, for a total of 720 to 760 pages per year. The articles are organized by section: theory and clinical practice, current issues ("Reflections on Psychoanalysis and Science"), ethics, technique, and social issues ("Beyond the Couch"), discussions of work in progress, reports of congresses and meetings, reviews, reports of foreign-language publications, reviews of studies and trials, and obituaries.

Since being founded in 1925 and its subsequent revivals (1932 and 1945), the SPI has always attempted to publish a review that would serve as an instrument of scientific understanding and the diffusion of knowledge. In 1925, professor Marco Levi Bianchini, the society's founder, transformed the review he had created in 1920, Archivio generale di neurologia e psichiatria, into the official publication of the SPI with the title Archivio generale di neurologia, psichiatria e psicoanalisi. In 1938 Italy's racial legislation forced him to sell the publication to Agostino Gemelli, who changed the title to Archivio di neurologia, psichiatria e psicoterapia.

After re-establishing the SPI in 1932, Edoardo Weiss provided it with a new official publication, the Rivista italiana di psicoanalisi, the first issue of which was published that same year. The Fascist government suspended publication, and the first issue of 1934, which had already been printed, was never distributed. In addition to articles by Edoardo Weiss, Nicola Perrotti, and Emilio Servadio, the first issue contained contributions from foreign authors including Heinrich Meng, Ernest Jones, Franz Alexander, Ludwig Jekels, Paul Federn, Sophie Morgenstern, Sigmund Freud ("The Moses of Michelangelo," 1914b), and Marie Bonaparte. Two other articles defended psychoanalysis against the attacks of the literary critic Francesco Flora and the philosopher Guido De Ruggiero. The second volume published Sigmund Freud's New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (nos. 29-35), along with contributions by Weiss and Servadio, and two articles by Cesare Musatti.

La Rivista di psicoanalisi, which has primarily promoted Italian authors, has also published several special issues: "Psychoanalysis of Psychiatric Institutions" (1971), "Aggression" (1972), "Interpretation" (1974), "Creative Processes" (1975), "Wilfred R. Bion" (1981). In 1986, in a supplement to volume 32, there appeared a general index covering the years 1932-1933 and 1955-1984, which provided information on authors, titles, and keywords.

Rosario Merendino

See also: Italy.