the work of Freud at the age of 32 and devoted her life to enriching and nuancing it in intriguing

她在32歲時接觸了佛洛伊德的理論， 並終生致力於以吸引人且有價值的方法

and valuable ways.

豐富、細緻化佛洛伊德的理論

Born in 1882, Klein was held back by her father from her desire to become a doctor and had

生於1882年，克萊恩原本想當醫生，但爸爸不允許

been pushed by her family into a loveless marriage with a coarse, unpleasant man with

還被迫與一個她不愛的無趣男人結婚

whom she had nothing in common. She was bored, sexually frustrated and mentally unwell.

他們沒有任何共通點， 克萊恩在婚姻中感到無趣、性冷感、精神不濟

Psychoanalysis saved her. She left her husband, read everything she could, attended lectures,

是精神分析拯救了她。 她離開丈夫，盡可能地研讀理論、修習課程，

and started publishing papers of her own.

而後開始發表自己的學術論文

She soon departed from Freud in an area that most other analysts had overlooked: the analysis

她很快就與佛洛依德的理論分道揚鑣， 提出了一個大多數學者都忽略的領域：

of children.

兒童精神分析

Freud had been sceptical that children could ever be analysed properly, their minds being

佛洛伊德懷疑是否能夠對兒童進行精神分析，

in his view too unformed to allow for a perspective on the unconscious.

他認為孩童的大腦尚未成熟到可接受精神分析的程度。

But Klein now argued that an analyst could get a useable view into a child’s inner

但克萊恩認為，可以透過孩童玩玩具的過程中，

world through studying how they played with toys. She therefore equipped her consulting

了解他們的內在世界。她成為一位兒童精神分析師，

room with small horses, figurines and locomotives and established herself as a child psychoanalyst,

在諮商室裡放置許多小馬、小人偶、小玩具。

first in Berlin and then in London, where she settled in 1926 and remained for the rest

一開始在柏林，後來1926年移居英國、直到終老。

of her life. In her work with children, Klein wanted to

在她的臨床經驗中，

understand how human beings evolve from the primitive pleasure-seeking impulses of early

克萊恩想了解， 人類的思想是如何從嬰兒時期純粹滿足原始慾望

infancy to the more mature adaptations of later life – and in particular, she wanted

進化到成年後成熟的思考。

to know what might go wrong on this journey, giving rise to the neurotic adaptations of

她尤其想知道，其中是否發生了什麼差錯， 造成成年之後的各種精神疾病。

adults.

在她1932出版的《兒童精神分析》一書中， 她描述了小小孩面臨的困難的心理狀態。

In her 1932 book The Psychoanalysis of Children she described the difficulty of the young

脆弱、依賴成人、無法理解周遭發生了什麼事

infant’s situation.

克萊恩認為，小小孩無法知道，周圍的人類實際上是

Weak, utterly at the mercy of adults, unable to grasp what is happening, the infant cannot

擁有獨立思考與認知的人。

– in Klein’s description – grasp that people around it are in fact people, with

出生幾周的小孩，甚至不認為母親是母親。

their own alternative reality and independent points of view.

據克萊恩的說法，母親只是一對神出鬼沒的乳房，

In the early weeks, the mother is not even ‘a mother’ to her child, she is – to

有著無法預測又令人痛苦的隨機性。

come to the crux of the issue – just a pair of breasts which appear and disappear with

嬰兒對母親的感受， 只有強烈的痛苦，以及強烈的快樂。

unpredictable and painful randomness.

當乳房出現在嬰兒眼前，並分泌乳汁時，

In relation to this mother, all the infant experiences are moments of intense pain and

嬰兒就會感受到一種原始的平靜與滿足。

then equally intense pleasure. When the breast is there and the milk flows, a primordial

這種感覺中洋溢著安定、感激與親切，

calm and satisfaction descends upon the infant: it is suffused with feelings of well-being,

這種關係會持續到成人的戀愛關係。

gratitude and tenderness (feelings that will, in adulthood, be strongly associated with

但是當乳房因為不明原因消失時， 嬰兒會感到飢餓、憤怒、恐懼、想報復。

being in love, a moment where breasts continue to play a notable role for many). But when

克萊恩認為，這使得嬰兒採取一種原始的防衛機制， 以避免陷入無法忍受的焦慮。

the breast is for whatever reason it is missing, the infant feels starving, enraged, terrified

嬰兒會將母親分裂為兩種不同的乳房，

and vengeful.

好乳房與壞乳房

This, thought Klein, leads the infant to adopt a primitive defence mechanism against what

嬰兒非常討厭壞乳房， 他會啃咬攻擊這個邪惡的物體。

would otherwise be intolerable anxiety. It ‘splits’ the mother into two very different

相反地，好乳房則會被敬仰為完全善良溫和的存在。

breasts: a ‘good breast’ and a ‘bad breast’.

隨著健康的發展，會逐漸修復這個分裂。

The bad breast is hated with a passion; the infant wants to bite, wound and destroy this

孩童漸漸發現世界上沒有完全獨立的好乳房， 也沒有完全獨立的壞乳房。

object of unholy frustration. But the good breast is revered with an equally thorough

兩個都是母親的一部份， 母親兼容了正面與負面、快樂與沮喪、

though more benign intensity.

愉悅與痛苦。

With time, in healthy development, this ‘split’ heals. The child will gradually perceive that

此時兒童已經發展到克萊恩理論中的關鍵狀態：

there is in truth no entirely good and no entirely bad breast, both belong to a mother

矛盾狀態

who is a perplexing mixture of the positive and the negative: a source of pleasure and

能對某人事物產生矛盾狀態，是精神發展的重要突破，

frustration, joy and suffering.

對克萊恩來說，是兒童進化到成人的重要里程碑。

The child discovers a key idea in Kleinian psychoanalysis: the concept of

但這個狀態不一定會發生，也不是一勞永逸，

AMBIVALENCE

健康兒童只能慢慢體會「意圖」與「影響」的關鍵區別

To be able to feel ambivalent about someone is, for Kleinians, an enormous psychological

「母親意圖如何」與「小孩對母親的感受」之間的區別

achievement and the first marker on the path to genuine maturity.

這種複雜的心理狀態，克萊恩稱為

But it isn’t inevitable or assured. Only slowly can a healthy child grasp the crucial

憂鬱心理位置

distinction between intention and effect, between what a mother may have wanted for

兒童在這段時期發現，現實比先前想像中複雜得多。

it and what the child might have felt at her hands nevertheless.

善惡好壞是糾纏難分的，

These complicated psychological reactions belong a phase that Klein called

母親或是其他人並不需為每一件錯誤負責。

THE DEPRESSIVE POSITION

幾乎沒有全然的善或全然的惡，

a moment of soberness and melancholy when the growing child takes on board (unconsciously)

所有的事物都是善惡的複合體

the idea that reality is more complicated and less morally neat than it had ever previously

這對嬰兒來說很難接受 -- 克萊恩將這個狀態用來解釋

imagined: the mother (or other people generally) cannot be neatly blamed for every setback;

孩童恍神時那深邃嚴肅的眼神，

almost nothing is totally pure or totally evil, things are a perplexing, thought-provoking

在這些時刻，孩童思考著成人世界好壞矛盾的哲學議題

mixture of the good and bad…

不幸地，並非所有人都能度過這項憂鬱心理狀態

This is hard to take and – for Klein – explains the serious faraway look that may sometime

有些人無法修復矛盾好壞的分割，這種狀態克萊恩稱為

enter the eyes of children during daydreams. These small beings look oddly wise and grave

偏執-類分裂心理位置

at such moments; they are, somewhere deep inside, cottoning on to the moral ambiguity

這項障礙會持續許多年，甚至到成年期。這些不幸的人

of the real adult world.

無法忍受任何一點矛盾或模糊，執著地維持這份無知

Unfortunately, in Klein’s analysis, not everyone makes it to the depressive position,

他們愛恨分明，必須尋找代罪羔羊或把人理想化

some get stuck in a mode of primitive splitting she termed

在感情關係裡，他們會先不顧一切地付出， 但到了某些時刻，他的伴侶無可避免地

THE PARANOID-SCHIZOID POSITION

會做出某些令他們失望的事， 他們會瞬間再也無法對任何事有所感

For many years, even into adulthood, these unfortunate people will find themselves unable

這些不幸的人很可能會不斷找尋新的戀人， 尋找完全的善、完全的美，

to tolerate the slightest ambivalence: keen to preserve their sense of their own innocence,

但重蹈覆轍地，不知情的伴侶總會破壞他們的完美憧憬

they must either hate or love. They must seek scapegoats or idealise. In relationships,

我們不必然要完全相信克萊恩理論的所有論點，

they tend to fall violently in love and then – at the inevitable moment when a lover

但這個理論依然有其價值，提供了一個 不尋常卻有用的「成年」的定義

in some way disappoints them – switch abruptly and become incapable of feeling anything anymore.

我們往往以一種簡化的觀點看待人：

These unfortunates are likely to move from candidate to candidate, always seeking a vision

只看「他能為我做什麼?」 -- 能餵我奶、給我錢、讓我開心

of complete satisfaction, which is repeatedly violated by an unwitting error on the lover’s

而忽略了人更複雜深層的內在。 這樣的傾向會對親密關係、乃至人生的各種情感

part.

帶來許多痛苦

We don’t have to believe in the literal truth of Klein’s theory to see that it has

透過梅萊妮．克萊恩的分析，我們能了解成長過程中

value for us as an unusual but useful representation of what it means to be a proper grown-up.

親密關係體現的矛盾複雜的人性 -- 而我們始終還在成長

The impulse to reduce people

以及這過程很可能伴隨而來的悲傷，甚至憂鬱。

into what they can do for us (give us milk, make us money, keep us happy), rather than

what they are in and of themselves (a multifaceted being), this can be painfully observed in emotional

life generally.

With Melanie Klein’s help, we learn that coming to terms with the ambivalent complex nature of all

relationships belongs to the business of growing up (a task we’re never quite done with)

– and is likely to leave us a little sad, if not for a time quite simply depressed.