Playing and Reality

What are the origins of creativity and how can we develop it - whether within ourselves or in others? Not only does Playing and Reality address these questions, it also tackles many more that surround the fundamental issue of the individual self and its relationship with the outside world. In this landmark book of twentieth-century psychology, Winnicott shows the reader how, through the attentive nurturing of creativity from the earliest years, every individual has the opportunity to enjoy a rich and rewarding cultural life. Today, as the 'hothousing' and testing of children begins at an ever-younger age, Winnicott's classic text is a more urgent and topical read than ever before.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements. Rodiman, Foreword. Introduction. Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena. Dreaming, Fantasying, and Living: A Case-history Describing a Primary Dissociation. Playing: A Theoretical Statement. Playing: Creative Activity and the Search for the Self. Creativity and its Origins. The Use of an Object and Relating Through Identifications. The Location of Cultural Experience. The Place Where We Live. Mirror-role of Mother and Family in Child Development. Interrelating Apart from Instinctual Drive and in Terms of Cross-identifications. Contemporary Concepts of Adolescent Development and their Implications for Higher Education. Tailpiece. References. Index.