On humming: reflections on Marion Milner's contribution to psychoanalysis

Abstract

This book chapter focuses on Marion Milner’s development of D. W. Winnicot’s theoretical perspective. Pajaczkowska discusses Marion Milner as a theorist of art and culture, and especially of liminal spaces of the 'unthought known' (Christopher Bollas). Though Winnicott's work, like that of Milner, is currently referenced by Adam Phillips, Richard Sennett and others writing on craftsmanship and tacit knowledge, Pajaczkowska proposes in this chapter that Milner's theory of symbolic function of mind has not yet been fully exploited as part of an analysis of art, artefact and culture. Tracing the history of the framing discipline, she suggests that the popularity of the Lacanian paradigm in the adoption of psychoanalytic concepts within the academy has resulted in the British tradition being overlooked. This essay explores key concepts associated with this tradition: the role of illusion in symbol formation and the origins of symbolism in the relational dimension. This chapter is one of a series of publications arising from Pajaczkowska's role as member of the management committee of THERIP (The Higher Education Network for Research and Information in Psychoanalysis), the international association and online centre for debates on and dissemination of psychoanalytic work on culture. As part of this research, Pajaczkowska has also published scholarly papers in Economy and Society (‘The killers’, special issue on guilt, forthcoming), is co-editor/author of the forthcoming The New Klein-Lacan Dialogues (London: Karnac Books, 2014), and presented a paper at the THERIP annual international conference, ‘Is Dialogue Possible?’ (2013). Pajaczkowska also taught on this theme at Shih Chien University, Taipei in December 2013.