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Remembering as Reparation pp 101–118Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Solidarity, Catastrophe and Ambivalence

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Part of the book series: Studies in the Psychosocial ((STIP))

Abstract

I argue that the creation of a delusional enemy is a defence against a primal catastrophe in an unstable core of the self or society. I build my case on two of Freud’s powerful concepts: the narcissism of small differences, according to which aggressiveness intensifies with closeness; and his Unbehagen in der Kultur—an unease or malaise intrinsic to culture, charged with immanent explosive violence. From this model of an elemental state, we can ground the basic processes in psychic development and maintenance, which build up structures of the individual and group or society as forms of management of a psychotic core. These processes and structures need repositories for projection. The Jews as a people provided such a repository for Nazi Germany.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Freud (1918[1917]) says, ‘It is quite clear that the intention underlying this taboo [of virginity] is that of denying or sparing precisely the future husband something which cannot be dissociated from the first sexual act.’ Referring to Totem and Taboo, Freud considers ‘the part played by primal ambivalence in determining the formation of taboo’, the genesis of which he finds in ‘the prehistoric events which led to the founding of the human family’ (pp. 199–200; Freud’s emphasis).

  2. 2.

    O’Shaughnessy says that some patients enter analysis ‘when they hope not to extend their contact with themselves or their objects, but on the contrary, because they desperately need a refuge from these. Once they are in analysis their first aim is to establish, really to re-establish, a defensive organization against objects internal and external which are causing them nearly overwhelming anxiety’ (1981, p. 359). In the analytic setting, the movement out of a retreat, into confrontation with reality and anxiety, and back into a retreat, defines the analytic frame, and the management of the analytic frame is a major task of the analyst.

  3. 3.

    Kershaw (2014) has discussed the importance of the concept of Volksgemeinschaft in German historiography. He thinks that the idea of an organic ideology, with the appeal of an ideal of belonging through to a global sentiment of solidarity, has been valuable in understanding the Nazi period. ‘The concept of the Volksgemeinschaft has been, and can be utilized to go some way towards capturing this intangible, immeasurable but nevertheless real and vital psychological mobilization that gave Nazism its extraordinary dynamism’ (p. 34). At the same time, he cautions against giving too much priority to such a qualitative, overarching sentiment, which would undervalue the detailed study of heterogeneity. ‘But a problem with the Volksgemeinschaft concept’, he argues, ‘is that it makes no attempt to disaggregate the areas where Nazism could gain obvious political support from those in which it evidently faced greater difficulties in overcoming spheres of extensive dissent, even if this could not be translated into outright opposition’ (p. 37). I accept his balanced judgement, but my interest has been in the psychological motivation, arising from the power of thrall.

  4. 4.

    Outhwaite (2017) discusses Habermas’ concepts of the ‘discourse principle’ in connection with the ‘democracy principle’. Quoting Habermas, ‘“[O]nly those laws can claim legitimate validity which can achieve the agreement of all citizens in a discursive process of legislation which is itself legally constituted”. Law itself provides a necessary complement to morality, especially a post-conventional and therefore critical one’ (p. 215).

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  1. Editorial Board, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Karl Figlio

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Figlio, K. (2017). Solidarity, Catastrophe and Ambivalence. In: Remembering as Reparation. Studies in the Psychosocial. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59591-1_5

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