A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OFOBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY

THOMAS H OGDEN306 Laurel Street San Francisco CA 94118 USA

(Final version accepted 12 March 2002)

The author presents a reading of Freudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo in which heexamines not only the ideas Freud was introducing but as important the way he wasthinkingwriting in this watershed paper The author demonstrates how Freud made useof his exploration of the unconscious work of mourning and of melancholia to proposeand explore some of the major tenets of a revised model of the mind (which later wouldbe termed lsquoobject-relations theoryrsquo) The principal tenets of the revised modelpresented in this 1917 paper include (1) the idea that the unconscious is organised to asigni cant degree around stable internal object relations between paired split-off partsof the ego (2) the notion that psychic pain may be defended against by means of thereplacement of an external object relationship by an unconscious fantasied internalobject relationship (3) the idea that pathological bonds of love mixed with hate areamong the strongest ties that bind internal objects to one another in a state of mutualcaptivity (4) the notion that the psychopathology of internal object relations ofteninvolves the use of omnipotent thinking to a degree that cuts off the dialogue betweenthe unconscious internal object world and the world of actual experience with realexternal objects and (5) the idea that ambivalence in relations between unconsciousinternal objects involves not only the con ict of love and hate but also the con ictbetween the wish to continue to be alive in onersquos object relationships and the wish to beat one with onersquos dead internal objects

Keywords mourning melancholia depression narcissism identi cation

Some authors write what they think othersthink what they write The latter seem to dotheir thinking in the very act of writing as ifthoughts arise from the conjunction of penand paper the work unfolding by surprise asit goes Freud in many of his most importantbooks and articles including lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo (1917a) was a writer of this lat-ter sort In these writings Freud made no at-tempt to cover his tracks for example hisfalse starts his uncertainties his reversals ofthinking (often done mid-sentence) his shel-ving of compelling ideas for the time being

because they seemed to him too speculativeor lacking adequate clinical foundation

The legacy that Freud left was not simply aset of ideas but as important and insepar-able from those ideas a new way of thinkingabout human experience that gave rise tonothing less than a new form of humansubjectivity Each of his psychoanalytic writ-ings from this point of view is simulta-neously an explication of a set of conceptsand a demonstration of a newly created wayof thinking about and experiencing ourselves

I have chosen to look closely at Freudrsquos

Int J Psychoanal (2002) 83 767

Copyright Institute of Psychoanalysis London 2002

lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo for two reasonsFirst I consider this paper to be one ofFreudrsquos most important contributions in that itdevelops for the rst time in a systematicway a line of thought which later would betermed lsquoobject-relations theoryrsquo1 (Fairbairn1952) This line of thought has played a majorrole in shaping psychoanalysis from 1917onwards Second I have found that attendingclosely to Freudrsquos writing as writing inlsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo provides anextraordinary opportunity not only to listen toFreud think but also through the writing toenter into that thinking process with him Inthis way the reader may learn a good dealabout what is distinctive to the new form ofthinking (and its attendant subjectivity) thatFreud was in the process of creating in thisarticle2

Freud wrote lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquoin less than three months in early 1915 duringa period that was for him lled with greatintellectual and emotional upheaval Europewas in the throes of World War I Despite hisprotestations two of Freudrsquos sons volunteeredfor military service and fought at the frontlines Freud was at the same time in the gripsof intense intellectual foment In the years1914 and 1915 Freud wrote a series of twelveessays which represented his rst majorrevision of psychoanalytic theory since thepublication of The Interpretation of Dreams(1900) Freudrsquos intent was to publish thesepapers as a book to be titled Preliminaries toa Metapsychology He hoped that this collec-

tion would lsquoprovide a stable theoretical foun-dation for psycho-analysisrsquo (Freud quoted byStrachey 1957 p 105)

In the summer of 1915 Freud wrote toFerenczi lsquoThe twelve articles are as it werereadyrsquo (Gay 1988 p 367) As the phrase lsquoasit werersquo suggests Freud had misgivings aboutwhat he had written Only ve of theessaysmdashall of which are ground-breakingpapersmdashwere ever published lsquoInstincts andtheir vicissitudesrsquo lsquoRepressionrsquo and lsquoTheunconsciousrsquo were published as journal arti-cles in 1915 lsquoA metapsychological supple-ment to the theory of dreamsrsquo and lsquoMourningand melancholiarsquo although completed in1915 were not published until 1917 Freuddestroyed the other seven articles whichpapers he told Ferenczi lsquodeserved suppres-sion and silencersquo (Gay 1988 p 373) None ofthese articles was shown to even his inner-most circle of friends Freudrsquos reasons forlsquosilencingrsquo these essays remain a mystery inthe history of psychoanalysis

In the discussion that follows I take up veportions of the text of lsquoMourning and mel-ancholiarsquo each of which contains a pivotalcontribution to the analytic understanding ofthe unconscious work of mourning and ofmelancholia at the same time I look at theway Freud made use of this seemingly focalexploration of these two psychological statesas a vehicle for introducingmdashas much im-plicitly as explicitlymdashthe foundations ofhis theory of unconscious internal objectrelations3

1I use the term object-relations theory to refer to a group of psychoanalytic theories holding in common aloosely knit set of metaphors that address the intrapsychic and interpersonal effects of relationships amongunconscious lsquointernalrsquo objects (ie among unconscious split-off parts of the personality) This group oftheories coexists in Freudian psychoanalytic theory as a whole with many other overlapping complementaryoften contradictorylines of thought (each utilising somewhat different sets of metaphors)2I have previously discussed (Ogden 2001a) the interdependenceof the vitality of the ideas and the life of thewriting in a very different but no less signi cant psychoanalytic contribution Winnicottrsquos lsquoPrimitiveemotional developmentrsquo (1945)3I am using Stracheyrsquos 1957 translation of lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo in the Standard Edition as the text formy discussion It is beyond the scope of this paper to address questions relating to the quality of thattranslation

768 THOMAS H OGDEN

I

Freudrsquos unique voice resounds in the open-ing sentence of lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquolsquoDreams having served us as the prototype innormal life of narcissistic mental disorderswe will now try to throw some light on thenature of melancholia by comparing it withthe normal affect of mourningrsquo (p 243)

The voice we hear in Freudrsquos writing isremarkably constant through the twenty-threevolumes of the Standard Edition It is a voicewith which no other psychoanalyst has writ-ten because no other analyst has had the rightto do so The voice Freud creates is that of thefounding father of a new discipline4 Alreadyin this opening sentence something quiteremarkable can be heard which we regularlytake for granted in reading Freud in thecourse of the twenty years preceding thewriting of this sentence Freud had not onlycreated a revolutionary conceptual system hehad altered language itself It is for meastounding to observe that virtually everyword in the opening sentence has acquired inFreudrsquos hands new meanings and a new setof relationships not only to practically everyother word in the sentence but also toinnumerable words in language as a wholeFor example the word lsquodreamsrsquo that beginsthe sentence is a word that conveys rich layersof meaning and mystery that did not existprior to the publication of The Interpretationof Dreams (1900) Concentrated in this wordnewly created by Freud are allusions to (1) aconception of a repressed unconscious innerworld that powerfully but obliquely exertsforce on conscious experience and vice

versa (2) a view that sexual desire is presentfrom birth onwards and is rooted in bodilyinstincts which manifest themselves in uni-versal unconscious incestuous wishes parri-cidal fantasies and fears of retaliation in theform of genital mutilation (3) a recognitionof the role of dreaming as an essentialconversation between unconscious and pre-conscious aspects of ourselves and (4) aradical reconceptualisation of human symbol-ogymdashat once universal and exquisitely idio-syncratic to the life history of eachindividual Of course this list is only asampling of the meanings the wordlsquodreamrsquomdashnewly made by Freudmdashinvokes

Similarly the words lsquonormal lifersquo lsquomentaldisordersrsquo and lsquonarcissisticrsquo speak to oneanother and to the word lsquodreamrsquo in ways thatsimply could not have occurred twenty yearsearlier The second half of the sentencesuggests that two other words denotingaspects of human experience will be madeanew in this paper lsquomourningrsquo andlsquomelancholiarsquo5

The logic of the central argument oflsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo begins to unfoldas Freud compares the psychological featuresof mourning to those of melancholia bothare responses to loss and involve lsquograve de-partures from the normal attitude to lifersquo(p 243)6 In melancholia one nds

a profoundly painful dejection cessation of interestin the outside world loss of the capacity to loveinhibition of all activity and a lowering of the self-regarding feelings to a degree that nds utterancein self-reproaches and self-revilings and culmi-nates in a delusional expectation of punishment(p 244)

4Less than a year before writing lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud remarked that no one need wonder abouthis role in the history of psychoanalysis lsquoPsycho-analysis is my creation for ten years I was the only personwho concernedhimself with itrsquo (1914a p 7)5Freudrsquos term melancholia is roughly synonymouswith depressionas the latter term is currently used6Freud comments that lsquoit never occurs to us to regard [mourning] as a pathological condition and to refer itto medical treatment We rely on its being overcome after a certain lapse of time and we look upon anyinterferencewith it as useless or even harmfulrsquo (pp 243ndash244) This observation is offered as a statement of theself-evident and may have been so in Vienna in 1915 But to my mind that understanding today is paid lipservice far more often than it is genuinely honoured

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 769

Freud points out that the same traitscharacterise mourningmdashwith one exceptionlsquothe disturbance of self-regardrsquo Only in retro-spect will the reader realise that the fullweight of the thesis that Freud develops inthis paper rests on this simple observationmade almost in passing lsquoThe disturbance inself-regard is absent in mourning but other-wise the features are the samersquo (p 243) As inevery good detective novel all clues neces-sary for solving the crime are laid out in plainview practically from the outset

With the background of the discussion ofthe similarities and differencesmdashthere is onlyone symptomatic differencemdashbetweenmourning and melancholia the paper seemsabruptly to plunge into the exploration of theunconscious In melancholia the patient andthe analyst may not even know what thepatient has lostmdasha remarkable idea from thepoint of view of common sense in 1915 Evenwhen the melancholic is aware that he hassuffered the loss of a person lsquohe knows whomhe has lost but not what he has lost in himrsquo(p 245) There is ambiguity in Freudrsquoslanguage here is the melancholic unaware ofthe sort of importance the tie to the objectheld for him lsquowhat [it is that the melan-cholic] has lost in [losing] himrsquo Or is themelancholic unaware of what he has lost inhimself as a consequence of losing the objectThe ambiguitymdashwhether or not Freud in-tended itmdashsubtly introduces the importantnotion of the simultaneity and interdepen-dence of two unconscious aspects of objectloss in melancholia One involves the natureof the melancholicrsquos tie to the object and theother involves an alteration of the self inresponse to the loss of the object

This [lack of awareness on the part of the melan-cholic of what he has lost] would suggest thatmelancholia is in some way related to an object-losswhich is withdrawn from consciousness in contra-distinction to mourning in which there is nothingabout the loss that is unconscious(p 245)

In his effort to understand the nature of theunconscious object loss in melancholia

Freud returns to the sole observable sympto-matic difference between mourning andmelancholia the melancholicrsquos diminishedself-esteem

In mourning it is the world which has become poorand empty in melancholia it is the ego itself Thepatient represents his ego to us as worthless incap-able of any achievement and morally despicable hereproaches himself vili es himself and expects to becast out and punished He abases himself beforeeveryone and commiserates with his own relativesfor being connected with anyone so unworthy He isnot of the opinion that a change has taken place inhim but extends his self-criticism back over the pasthe declares that he was never any better (p 246)

More in his use of language than in explicittheoretical statements Freudrsquos model of themind is being reworked here There is asteady ow of subjectndashobject Indashme pairingsin this passage the patient as object re-proaches abases vili es himself as object(and extends the reproaches backwards andforwards in time) What is being suggestedmdashand only suggestedmdashis that these subjectndashobject pairings extend beyond consciousnessinto the timeless unconscious and constitutewhat is going on unconsciously in melancho-lia that is not occurring in mourning Theunconscious is in this sense a metaphoricalplace in which the lsquoIndashmersquo pairings areunconscious psychological contents that ac-tively engage in a continuous timeless attackof the subject (I) upon the object (me) whichdepletes the ego (a concept in transition here)to the point that it becomes lsquopoor and emptyrsquoin the process

The melancholic is ill in that he stands in adifferent relationship to his failings than doesthe mourner The melancholic does not evi-dence the shame one would expect of aperson who experiences himself as lsquopettyegoistic [and] dishonestrsquo (p 246) andinstead demonstrates an lsquoinsistent communi-cativeness which nds satisfaction in self-exposurersquo (p 247) Each time Freud returnsto the observation of the melancholicrsquos dimin-ished self-regard he makes use of it to

770 THOMAS H OGDEN

illuminate a different aspect of the uncon-scious lsquointernal workrsquo (p 245) of melancho-lia This time the observation with itsaccrued set of meanings becomes an impor-tant underpinning for a new conception of theego which to this point has only been hintedat

the melancholicrsquos disorder affords [a view] of theconstitution of the human ego We see how in [themelancholic] one part of the ego sets itself overagainst the other judges it critically and as it weretakes it as its object What we are here becomingacquainted with is the agency commonly calledlsquoconsciencersquo and we shall come upon evidence toshow that it can become diseased on its own account(p 247)

Here Freud is reconceiving the ego inseveral important ways These revisions takentogether constitute the rst of a set of tenetsunderlying Freudrsquos emerging psychoanalytictheory of unconscious internal object rela-tions rst the ego now a psychic structurewith conscious and unconscious components(lsquopartsrsquo) can be split second an unconscioussplit-off aspect of the ego has the capacity togenerate thoughts and feelings indepen-dentlymdashin the case of the critical agencythese thoughts and feelings are of a self-observing moralistic judgemental sort thirda split-off part of the ego may enter into anunconscious relationship to another part ofthe ego and fourth a split-off aspect of theego may be either healthy or pathological

II

The paper becomes positively fugue-like inits structure as Freud takes up againmdashyet in anew waymdashthe sole symptomatic differencebetween mourning and melancholia

If one listens patiently to a melancholicrsquos many andvarious self-accusationsone cannot in the end avoidthe impression that often the most violent of them arehardly at all applicable to the patient himself but thatwith insignicant modi cations they do t someoneelse someone whom the patient loves or has loved or

should love So we nd the key to the clinicalpicture we perceive that the self-reproaches arereproaches against a loved object which have beenshifted away from it on to the patientrsquos own ego(p 248)

Thus Freud as if developing enhancedobservational acuity as he writes sees some-thing he previously had not noticedmdashthat theaccusations the melancholic heaps upon him-self represent unconsciously displaced attackson the loved object This observation servesas a starting point from which Freud goes onto posit a second set of elements of hisobject-relations theory

In considering the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious reproaches of the loved object Freudpicks up a thread that he had introducedearlier in the discussion Melancholia ofteninvolves a psychological struggle involvingambivalent feelings for the loved object as lsquointhe case of a betrothed girl who has beenjiltedrsquo (p 245) Freud elaborates on the roleof ambivalence in melancholia by observingthat melancholics show not the slightesthumility despite their insistence on their ownworthlessness lsquoand always seem as thoughthey felt slighted and had been treated withgreat injusticersquo (p 248) Their intense senseof entitlement and injustice lsquois possible onlybecause the reactions expressed in their be-haviour still proceed from a mental constella-tion of revolt which has then by a certainprocess passed over into the crushed state ofmelancholiarsquo (p 248)

It seems to me that Freud is suggesting thatthe melancholic experiences outrage (as op-posed to anger of other sorts) at the object fordisappointing him and doing him a lsquogreatinjusticersquo This emotional protestrevolt iscrushed in melancholia as a consequence oflsquoa certain processrsquo It is the delineation of thatlsquocertain processrsquo in theoretical terms that willoccupy much of the remainder of lsquoMourningand melancholiarsquo

The reader can hear unmistakable excite-ment in Freudrsquos voice in the sentencethat follows lsquoThere is no dif culty in

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 771

reconstructing this [transformative] processrsquo(p 248) Ideas are falling into place A certainclarity is emerging from the tangle ofseemingly contradictory observations forexample the melancholicrsquos combination ofsevere self-condemnation and vociferousself-righteous outrage In spelling out thepsychological process mediating the mel-ancholicrsquos movement from revolt (againstinjustices he has suffered) to a crushed stateFreud with extraordinary dexterity presentsa radically new conception of the structure ofthe unconscious

An object-choice an attachment of the libido to aparticular person had at one time existed [for themelancholic] then owing to a real slight or disap-pointment coming from this loved person the object-relationship was shattered The result was not thenormal one of a withdrawal of the libido [lovingemotional energy] from this object and a displace-ment of it on to a new one [Instead] the object-cathexis [the emotional investment in the object]proved to have little power of resistance [littlecapacity to maintain the tie to the object] and wasbrought to an end But the free libido was notdisplaced on to another object it was withdrawn intothe ego There it [the loving emotional investmentwhich has been withdrawn from the object] served toestablish an identication of [a part of] the ego withthe abandoned object Thus the shadow of the objectfell upon [a part of] the ego and the latter couldhenceforth be judged by a special agency [anotherpart of the ego] as though it were an object theforsaken object In this way an object-loss wastransformed into an ego-loss and the con ict betweenthe ego and the loved person [was transformed] into acleavage between the critical activity of [a part of]the ego [later to be called the superego] and [another

part of] the ego as altered by identi cation (pp 248ndash249)

These sentences represent a powerfullysuccinct demonstration of the way Freud inthis paper was beginning to writethink theo-retically and clinically in terms of relation-ships between unconscious paired split-offaspects of the ego (ie about unconsciousinternal object relations)7 Freud for the rsttime is gathering together into a coherentnarrative expressed in higher order theor-etical terms his newly conceived revisedmodel of the mind

There is so much going on in this passagethat it is dif cult to know where to start indiscussing it Freudrsquos use of language seemsto me to afford a port of entry into this criticalmoment in the development of psychoanaly-tic thought There is an important shift in thelanguage Freud is using that serves to con-vey a rethinking of an important aspect ofhis conception of melancholia The wordslsquoobject-lossrsquo lsquolost objectrsquo and even lsquolost asan object of loversquo are without comment onFreudrsquos part replaced by the words lsquoaban-doned objectrsquo and lsquoforsaken objectrsquo

The melancholicrsquos lsquoabandonmentrsquo of theobject (as opposed to the mournerrsquos loss ofthe object) involves a paradoxical psycholo-gical event the abandoned object for themelancholic is preserved in the form of anidenti cation with it lsquoThus [in identifyingwith the object] the shadow of the object fellupon the ego rsquo (p 249) In melancholiathe ego is altered not by the glow of theobject but (more darkly) by lsquothe shadow of

7While Freud made use of the idea of lsquoan internal worldrsquo in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo it was Klein (19351940 1952) who transformed the idea into a systematic theory of the structure of the unconscious and of theinterplay between the internal object world and the world of external objects In developing her conception ofthe unconscious Klein richly contributed to a critical alteration of analytic theory She shifted the dominantmetaphors from those associated with Freudrsquos topographic and structural models to a set of spatial metaphors(some stated some only suggested in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo) These spatial metaphors depict anunconscious inner world inhabited by lsquointernal objectsrsquomdashsplit-off aspects of the egomdashthat are bound togetherin lsquointernal object relationshipsrsquo by powerful affective ties (For a discussion of the concepts of lsquointernalobjectsrsquo and lsquointernal object relationsrsquo as these ideas evolved in the work of Freud Abraham Klein Fairbairnand Winnicott see Ogden 1983)

772 THOMAS H OGDEN

the objectrsquo The shadow metaphor suggeststhat the melancholicrsquos experience of identify-ing with the abandoned object has a thintwo-dimensional quality as opposed to alively robust feeling tone The painful experi-ence of loss is short-circuited by the melan-cholicrsquos identi cation with the object thusdenying the separateness of the object theobject is me and I am the object There is noloss an external object (the abandonedobject) is omnipotently replaced by an inter-nal one (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)

So in response to the pain of loss the egois twice split forming an internal objectrelationship in which one split-off part ofthe ego (the critical agency) angrily (withoutrage) turns on another split-off part ofthe ego (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)Although Freud does not speak in theseterms it could be said that the internal objectrelationship is created for purposes of evad-ing the painful feeling of object-loss Thisavoidance is achieved by means of an uncon-scious lsquodeal with the devilrsquo in exchange forthe evasion of the pain of object loss themelancholic is doomed to experience thesense of lifelessness that comes as a conse-quence of disconnecting oneself from largeportions of external reality In this sense themelancholic forfeits a substantial part of hisown lifemdashthe three-dimensional emotionallife lived in the world of real external objectsThe internal world of the melancholic ispowerfully shaped by the wish to hold captivethe object in the form of an imaginary sub-stitute for itmdashthe ego-identi ed-with-the-object In a sense the internalisation of theobject renders the object forever captive tothe melancholic and at the same time rendersthe melancholic endlessly captive to it

A dream of one of my patients comes tomind as a particularly poignant expression ofthe frozen quality of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious internal object world

The patient Mr K began analysis a yearafter the death of his wife of twenty-twoyears In a dream that Mr K reported severalyears into the analysis he was attending a

gathering in which a tribute was to be paid tosomeone whose identity was unclear to himJust as the proceedings were getting underway a man in the audience rose to his feetand spoke glowingly of Mr Krsquos ne characterand important accomplishments When theman nished the patient stood and expressedhis gratitude for the high praise but said thatthe purpose of the meeting was to pay tributeto the guest of honour so the grouprsquos attentionshould be directed to him Immediately uponMr Krsquos sitting down another person stoodand again praised the patient at great lengthMr K again stood and after brie y repeatinghis statement of gratitude for the adulationhe redirected the attention of the gathering tothe honoured guest This sequence was re-peated again and again until the patient hadthe terrifying realisation that this sequencewould go on forever Mr K awoke from thedream with his heart racing in a state ofpanic

The patient had told me in the sessionspreceding the dream that he had becomeincreasingly despairing of ever being able tolove another woman and lsquoresume lifersquo Hesaid he has never ceased expecting his wife toreturn home after work each evening at six-thirty He added that every family event afterher death has been for him nothing more thananother occasion at which his wife is missingHe apologised for his lugubrious self-pityingtones

I told Mr K that I thought that the dreamcaptured a sense of the way he feels impri-soned in his inability genuinely to be inter-ested in much less honour new experienceswith people In the dream he in the form ofthe guests paying endless homage to himdirected to himself what might have beeninterest paid to someone outside of himselfsomeone outside of his internally frozenrelationship with his wife I went on to saythat it was striking that the honoured guest inthe dream was not given a name much lessan identity and human qualities which mighthave stirred curiosity puzzlement angerjealousy envy compassion love admiration

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 773

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo for two reasonsFirst I consider this paper to be one ofFreudrsquos most important contributions in that itdevelops for the rst time in a systematicway a line of thought which later would betermed lsquoobject-relations theoryrsquo1 (Fairbairn1952) This line of thought has played a majorrole in shaping psychoanalysis from 1917onwards Second I have found that attendingclosely to Freudrsquos writing as writing inlsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo provides anextraordinary opportunity not only to listen toFreud think but also through the writing toenter into that thinking process with him Inthis way the reader may learn a good dealabout what is distinctive to the new form ofthinking (and its attendant subjectivity) thatFreud was in the process of creating in thisarticle2

Freud wrote lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquoin less than three months in early 1915 duringa period that was for him lled with greatintellectual and emotional upheaval Europewas in the throes of World War I Despite hisprotestations two of Freudrsquos sons volunteeredfor military service and fought at the frontlines Freud was at the same time in the gripsof intense intellectual foment In the years1914 and 1915 Freud wrote a series of twelveessays which represented his rst majorrevision of psychoanalytic theory since thepublication of The Interpretation of Dreams(1900) Freudrsquos intent was to publish thesepapers as a book to be titled Preliminaries toa Metapsychology He hoped that this collec-

tion would lsquoprovide a stable theoretical foun-dation for psycho-analysisrsquo (Freud quoted byStrachey 1957 p 105)

In the summer of 1915 Freud wrote toFerenczi lsquoThe twelve articles are as it werereadyrsquo (Gay 1988 p 367) As the phrase lsquoasit werersquo suggests Freud had misgivings aboutwhat he had written Only ve of theessaysmdashall of which are ground-breakingpapersmdashwere ever published lsquoInstincts andtheir vicissitudesrsquo lsquoRepressionrsquo and lsquoTheunconsciousrsquo were published as journal arti-cles in 1915 lsquoA metapsychological supple-ment to the theory of dreamsrsquo and lsquoMourningand melancholiarsquo although completed in1915 were not published until 1917 Freuddestroyed the other seven articles whichpapers he told Ferenczi lsquodeserved suppres-sion and silencersquo (Gay 1988 p 373) None ofthese articles was shown to even his inner-most circle of friends Freudrsquos reasons forlsquosilencingrsquo these essays remain a mystery inthe history of psychoanalysis

In the discussion that follows I take up veportions of the text of lsquoMourning and mel-ancholiarsquo each of which contains a pivotalcontribution to the analytic understanding ofthe unconscious work of mourning and ofmelancholia at the same time I look at theway Freud made use of this seemingly focalexploration of these two psychological statesas a vehicle for introducingmdashas much im-plicitly as explicitlymdashthe foundations ofhis theory of unconscious internal objectrelations3

1I use the term object-relations theory to refer to a group of psychoanalytic theories holding in common aloosely knit set of metaphors that address the intrapsychic and interpersonal effects of relationships amongunconscious lsquointernalrsquo objects (ie among unconscious split-off parts of the personality) This group oftheories coexists in Freudian psychoanalytic theory as a whole with many other overlapping complementaryoften contradictorylines of thought (each utilising somewhat different sets of metaphors)2I have previously discussed (Ogden 2001a) the interdependenceof the vitality of the ideas and the life of thewriting in a very different but no less signi cant psychoanalytic contribution Winnicottrsquos lsquoPrimitiveemotional developmentrsquo (1945)3I am using Stracheyrsquos 1957 translation of lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo in the Standard Edition as the text formy discussion It is beyond the scope of this paper to address questions relating to the quality of thattranslation

768 THOMAS H OGDEN

I

Freudrsquos unique voice resounds in the open-ing sentence of lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquolsquoDreams having served us as the prototype innormal life of narcissistic mental disorderswe will now try to throw some light on thenature of melancholia by comparing it withthe normal affect of mourningrsquo (p 243)

The voice we hear in Freudrsquos writing isremarkably constant through the twenty-threevolumes of the Standard Edition It is a voicewith which no other psychoanalyst has writ-ten because no other analyst has had the rightto do so The voice Freud creates is that of thefounding father of a new discipline4 Alreadyin this opening sentence something quiteremarkable can be heard which we regularlytake for granted in reading Freud in thecourse of the twenty years preceding thewriting of this sentence Freud had not onlycreated a revolutionary conceptual system hehad altered language itself It is for meastounding to observe that virtually everyword in the opening sentence has acquired inFreudrsquos hands new meanings and a new setof relationships not only to practically everyother word in the sentence but also toinnumerable words in language as a wholeFor example the word lsquodreamsrsquo that beginsthe sentence is a word that conveys rich layersof meaning and mystery that did not existprior to the publication of The Interpretationof Dreams (1900) Concentrated in this wordnewly created by Freud are allusions to (1) aconception of a repressed unconscious innerworld that powerfully but obliquely exertsforce on conscious experience and vice

versa (2) a view that sexual desire is presentfrom birth onwards and is rooted in bodilyinstincts which manifest themselves in uni-versal unconscious incestuous wishes parri-cidal fantasies and fears of retaliation in theform of genital mutilation (3) a recognitionof the role of dreaming as an essentialconversation between unconscious and pre-conscious aspects of ourselves and (4) aradical reconceptualisation of human symbol-ogymdashat once universal and exquisitely idio-syncratic to the life history of eachindividual Of course this list is only asampling of the meanings the wordlsquodreamrsquomdashnewly made by Freudmdashinvokes

Similarly the words lsquonormal lifersquo lsquomentaldisordersrsquo and lsquonarcissisticrsquo speak to oneanother and to the word lsquodreamrsquo in ways thatsimply could not have occurred twenty yearsearlier The second half of the sentencesuggests that two other words denotingaspects of human experience will be madeanew in this paper lsquomourningrsquo andlsquomelancholiarsquo5

The logic of the central argument oflsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo begins to unfoldas Freud compares the psychological featuresof mourning to those of melancholia bothare responses to loss and involve lsquograve de-partures from the normal attitude to lifersquo(p 243)6 In melancholia one nds

a profoundly painful dejection cessation of interestin the outside world loss of the capacity to loveinhibition of all activity and a lowering of the self-regarding feelings to a degree that nds utterancein self-reproaches and self-revilings and culmi-nates in a delusional expectation of punishment(p 244)

4Less than a year before writing lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud remarked that no one need wonder abouthis role in the history of psychoanalysis lsquoPsycho-analysis is my creation for ten years I was the only personwho concernedhimself with itrsquo (1914a p 7)5Freudrsquos term melancholia is roughly synonymouswith depressionas the latter term is currently used6Freud comments that lsquoit never occurs to us to regard [mourning] as a pathological condition and to refer itto medical treatment We rely on its being overcome after a certain lapse of time and we look upon anyinterferencewith it as useless or even harmfulrsquo (pp 243ndash244) This observation is offered as a statement of theself-evident and may have been so in Vienna in 1915 But to my mind that understanding today is paid lipservice far more often than it is genuinely honoured

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 769

Freud points out that the same traitscharacterise mourningmdashwith one exceptionlsquothe disturbance of self-regardrsquo Only in retro-spect will the reader realise that the fullweight of the thesis that Freud develops inthis paper rests on this simple observationmade almost in passing lsquoThe disturbance inself-regard is absent in mourning but other-wise the features are the samersquo (p 243) As inevery good detective novel all clues neces-sary for solving the crime are laid out in plainview practically from the outset

With the background of the discussion ofthe similarities and differencesmdashthere is onlyone symptomatic differencemdashbetweenmourning and melancholia the paper seemsabruptly to plunge into the exploration of theunconscious In melancholia the patient andthe analyst may not even know what thepatient has lostmdasha remarkable idea from thepoint of view of common sense in 1915 Evenwhen the melancholic is aware that he hassuffered the loss of a person lsquohe knows whomhe has lost but not what he has lost in himrsquo(p 245) There is ambiguity in Freudrsquoslanguage here is the melancholic unaware ofthe sort of importance the tie to the objectheld for him lsquowhat [it is that the melan-cholic] has lost in [losing] himrsquo Or is themelancholic unaware of what he has lost inhimself as a consequence of losing the objectThe ambiguitymdashwhether or not Freud in-tended itmdashsubtly introduces the importantnotion of the simultaneity and interdepen-dence of two unconscious aspects of objectloss in melancholia One involves the natureof the melancholicrsquos tie to the object and theother involves an alteration of the self inresponse to the loss of the object

This [lack of awareness on the part of the melan-cholic of what he has lost] would suggest thatmelancholia is in some way related to an object-losswhich is withdrawn from consciousness in contra-distinction to mourning in which there is nothingabout the loss that is unconscious(p 245)

In his effort to understand the nature of theunconscious object loss in melancholia

Freud returns to the sole observable sympto-matic difference between mourning andmelancholia the melancholicrsquos diminishedself-esteem

In mourning it is the world which has become poorand empty in melancholia it is the ego itself Thepatient represents his ego to us as worthless incap-able of any achievement and morally despicable hereproaches himself vili es himself and expects to becast out and punished He abases himself beforeeveryone and commiserates with his own relativesfor being connected with anyone so unworthy He isnot of the opinion that a change has taken place inhim but extends his self-criticism back over the pasthe declares that he was never any better (p 246)

More in his use of language than in explicittheoretical statements Freudrsquos model of themind is being reworked here There is asteady ow of subjectndashobject Indashme pairingsin this passage the patient as object re-proaches abases vili es himself as object(and extends the reproaches backwards andforwards in time) What is being suggestedmdashand only suggestedmdashis that these subjectndashobject pairings extend beyond consciousnessinto the timeless unconscious and constitutewhat is going on unconsciously in melancho-lia that is not occurring in mourning Theunconscious is in this sense a metaphoricalplace in which the lsquoIndashmersquo pairings areunconscious psychological contents that ac-tively engage in a continuous timeless attackof the subject (I) upon the object (me) whichdepletes the ego (a concept in transition here)to the point that it becomes lsquopoor and emptyrsquoin the process

The melancholic is ill in that he stands in adifferent relationship to his failings than doesthe mourner The melancholic does not evi-dence the shame one would expect of aperson who experiences himself as lsquopettyegoistic [and] dishonestrsquo (p 246) andinstead demonstrates an lsquoinsistent communi-cativeness which nds satisfaction in self-exposurersquo (p 247) Each time Freud returnsto the observation of the melancholicrsquos dimin-ished self-regard he makes use of it to

770 THOMAS H OGDEN

illuminate a different aspect of the uncon-scious lsquointernal workrsquo (p 245) of melancho-lia This time the observation with itsaccrued set of meanings becomes an impor-tant underpinning for a new conception of theego which to this point has only been hintedat

the melancholicrsquos disorder affords [a view] of theconstitution of the human ego We see how in [themelancholic] one part of the ego sets itself overagainst the other judges it critically and as it weretakes it as its object What we are here becomingacquainted with is the agency commonly calledlsquoconsciencersquo and we shall come upon evidence toshow that it can become diseased on its own account(p 247)

Here Freud is reconceiving the ego inseveral important ways These revisions takentogether constitute the rst of a set of tenetsunderlying Freudrsquos emerging psychoanalytictheory of unconscious internal object rela-tions rst the ego now a psychic structurewith conscious and unconscious components(lsquopartsrsquo) can be split second an unconscioussplit-off aspect of the ego has the capacity togenerate thoughts and feelings indepen-dentlymdashin the case of the critical agencythese thoughts and feelings are of a self-observing moralistic judgemental sort thirda split-off part of the ego may enter into anunconscious relationship to another part ofthe ego and fourth a split-off aspect of theego may be either healthy or pathological

II

The paper becomes positively fugue-like inits structure as Freud takes up againmdashyet in anew waymdashthe sole symptomatic differencebetween mourning and melancholia

If one listens patiently to a melancholicrsquos many andvarious self-accusationsone cannot in the end avoidthe impression that often the most violent of them arehardly at all applicable to the patient himself but thatwith insignicant modi cations they do t someoneelse someone whom the patient loves or has loved or

should love So we nd the key to the clinicalpicture we perceive that the self-reproaches arereproaches against a loved object which have beenshifted away from it on to the patientrsquos own ego(p 248)

Thus Freud as if developing enhancedobservational acuity as he writes sees some-thing he previously had not noticedmdashthat theaccusations the melancholic heaps upon him-self represent unconsciously displaced attackson the loved object This observation servesas a starting point from which Freud goes onto posit a second set of elements of hisobject-relations theory

In considering the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious reproaches of the loved object Freudpicks up a thread that he had introducedearlier in the discussion Melancholia ofteninvolves a psychological struggle involvingambivalent feelings for the loved object as lsquointhe case of a betrothed girl who has beenjiltedrsquo (p 245) Freud elaborates on the roleof ambivalence in melancholia by observingthat melancholics show not the slightesthumility despite their insistence on their ownworthlessness lsquoand always seem as thoughthey felt slighted and had been treated withgreat injusticersquo (p 248) Their intense senseof entitlement and injustice lsquois possible onlybecause the reactions expressed in their be-haviour still proceed from a mental constella-tion of revolt which has then by a certainprocess passed over into the crushed state ofmelancholiarsquo (p 248)

It seems to me that Freud is suggesting thatthe melancholic experiences outrage (as op-posed to anger of other sorts) at the object fordisappointing him and doing him a lsquogreatinjusticersquo This emotional protestrevolt iscrushed in melancholia as a consequence oflsquoa certain processrsquo It is the delineation of thatlsquocertain processrsquo in theoretical terms that willoccupy much of the remainder of lsquoMourningand melancholiarsquo

The reader can hear unmistakable excite-ment in Freudrsquos voice in the sentencethat follows lsquoThere is no dif culty in

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 771

reconstructing this [transformative] processrsquo(p 248) Ideas are falling into place A certainclarity is emerging from the tangle ofseemingly contradictory observations forexample the melancholicrsquos combination ofsevere self-condemnation and vociferousself-righteous outrage In spelling out thepsychological process mediating the mel-ancholicrsquos movement from revolt (againstinjustices he has suffered) to a crushed stateFreud with extraordinary dexterity presentsa radically new conception of the structure ofthe unconscious

An object-choice an attachment of the libido to aparticular person had at one time existed [for themelancholic] then owing to a real slight or disap-pointment coming from this loved person the object-relationship was shattered The result was not thenormal one of a withdrawal of the libido [lovingemotional energy] from this object and a displace-ment of it on to a new one [Instead] the object-cathexis [the emotional investment in the object]proved to have little power of resistance [littlecapacity to maintain the tie to the object] and wasbrought to an end But the free libido was notdisplaced on to another object it was withdrawn intothe ego There it [the loving emotional investmentwhich has been withdrawn from the object] served toestablish an identication of [a part of] the ego withthe abandoned object Thus the shadow of the objectfell upon [a part of] the ego and the latter couldhenceforth be judged by a special agency [anotherpart of the ego] as though it were an object theforsaken object In this way an object-loss wastransformed into an ego-loss and the con ict betweenthe ego and the loved person [was transformed] into acleavage between the critical activity of [a part of]the ego [later to be called the superego] and [another

part of] the ego as altered by identi cation (pp 248ndash249)

These sentences represent a powerfullysuccinct demonstration of the way Freud inthis paper was beginning to writethink theo-retically and clinically in terms of relation-ships between unconscious paired split-offaspects of the ego (ie about unconsciousinternal object relations)7 Freud for the rsttime is gathering together into a coherentnarrative expressed in higher order theor-etical terms his newly conceived revisedmodel of the mind

There is so much going on in this passagethat it is dif cult to know where to start indiscussing it Freudrsquos use of language seemsto me to afford a port of entry into this criticalmoment in the development of psychoanaly-tic thought There is an important shift in thelanguage Freud is using that serves to con-vey a rethinking of an important aspect ofhis conception of melancholia The wordslsquoobject-lossrsquo lsquolost objectrsquo and even lsquolost asan object of loversquo are without comment onFreudrsquos part replaced by the words lsquoaban-doned objectrsquo and lsquoforsaken objectrsquo

The melancholicrsquos lsquoabandonmentrsquo of theobject (as opposed to the mournerrsquos loss ofthe object) involves a paradoxical psycholo-gical event the abandoned object for themelancholic is preserved in the form of anidenti cation with it lsquoThus [in identifyingwith the object] the shadow of the object fellupon the ego rsquo (p 249) In melancholiathe ego is altered not by the glow of theobject but (more darkly) by lsquothe shadow of

7While Freud made use of the idea of lsquoan internal worldrsquo in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo it was Klein (19351940 1952) who transformed the idea into a systematic theory of the structure of the unconscious and of theinterplay between the internal object world and the world of external objects In developing her conception ofthe unconscious Klein richly contributed to a critical alteration of analytic theory She shifted the dominantmetaphors from those associated with Freudrsquos topographic and structural models to a set of spatial metaphors(some stated some only suggested in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo) These spatial metaphors depict anunconscious inner world inhabited by lsquointernal objectsrsquomdashsplit-off aspects of the egomdashthat are bound togetherin lsquointernal object relationshipsrsquo by powerful affective ties (For a discussion of the concepts of lsquointernalobjectsrsquo and lsquointernal object relationsrsquo as these ideas evolved in the work of Freud Abraham Klein Fairbairnand Winnicott see Ogden 1983)

772 THOMAS H OGDEN

the objectrsquo The shadow metaphor suggeststhat the melancholicrsquos experience of identify-ing with the abandoned object has a thintwo-dimensional quality as opposed to alively robust feeling tone The painful experi-ence of loss is short-circuited by the melan-cholicrsquos identi cation with the object thusdenying the separateness of the object theobject is me and I am the object There is noloss an external object (the abandonedobject) is omnipotently replaced by an inter-nal one (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)

So in response to the pain of loss the egois twice split forming an internal objectrelationship in which one split-off part ofthe ego (the critical agency) angrily (withoutrage) turns on another split-off part ofthe ego (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)Although Freud does not speak in theseterms it could be said that the internal objectrelationship is created for purposes of evad-ing the painful feeling of object-loss Thisavoidance is achieved by means of an uncon-scious lsquodeal with the devilrsquo in exchange forthe evasion of the pain of object loss themelancholic is doomed to experience thesense of lifelessness that comes as a conse-quence of disconnecting oneself from largeportions of external reality In this sense themelancholic forfeits a substantial part of hisown lifemdashthe three-dimensional emotionallife lived in the world of real external objectsThe internal world of the melancholic ispowerfully shaped by the wish to hold captivethe object in the form of an imaginary sub-stitute for itmdashthe ego-identi ed-with-the-object In a sense the internalisation of theobject renders the object forever captive tothe melancholic and at the same time rendersthe melancholic endlessly captive to it

A dream of one of my patients comes tomind as a particularly poignant expression ofthe frozen quality of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious internal object world

The patient Mr K began analysis a yearafter the death of his wife of twenty-twoyears In a dream that Mr K reported severalyears into the analysis he was attending a

gathering in which a tribute was to be paid tosomeone whose identity was unclear to himJust as the proceedings were getting underway a man in the audience rose to his feetand spoke glowingly of Mr Krsquos ne characterand important accomplishments When theman nished the patient stood and expressedhis gratitude for the high praise but said thatthe purpose of the meeting was to pay tributeto the guest of honour so the grouprsquos attentionshould be directed to him Immediately uponMr Krsquos sitting down another person stoodand again praised the patient at great lengthMr K again stood and after brie y repeatinghis statement of gratitude for the adulationhe redirected the attention of the gathering tothe honoured guest This sequence was re-peated again and again until the patient hadthe terrifying realisation that this sequencewould go on forever Mr K awoke from thedream with his heart racing in a state ofpanic

The patient had told me in the sessionspreceding the dream that he had becomeincreasingly despairing of ever being able tolove another woman and lsquoresume lifersquo Hesaid he has never ceased expecting his wife toreturn home after work each evening at six-thirty He added that every family event afterher death has been for him nothing more thananother occasion at which his wife is missingHe apologised for his lugubrious self-pityingtones

I told Mr K that I thought that the dreamcaptured a sense of the way he feels impri-soned in his inability genuinely to be inter-ested in much less honour new experienceswith people In the dream he in the form ofthe guests paying endless homage to himdirected to himself what might have beeninterest paid to someone outside of himselfsomeone outside of his internally frozenrelationship with his wife I went on to saythat it was striking that the honoured guest inthe dream was not given a name much lessan identity and human qualities which mighthave stirred curiosity puzzlement angerjealousy envy compassion love admiration

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 773

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

I

Freudrsquos unique voice resounds in the open-ing sentence of lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquolsquoDreams having served us as the prototype innormal life of narcissistic mental disorderswe will now try to throw some light on thenature of melancholia by comparing it withthe normal affect of mourningrsquo (p 243)

The voice we hear in Freudrsquos writing isremarkably constant through the twenty-threevolumes of the Standard Edition It is a voicewith which no other psychoanalyst has writ-ten because no other analyst has had the rightto do so The voice Freud creates is that of thefounding father of a new discipline4 Alreadyin this opening sentence something quiteremarkable can be heard which we regularlytake for granted in reading Freud in thecourse of the twenty years preceding thewriting of this sentence Freud had not onlycreated a revolutionary conceptual system hehad altered language itself It is for meastounding to observe that virtually everyword in the opening sentence has acquired inFreudrsquos hands new meanings and a new setof relationships not only to practically everyother word in the sentence but also toinnumerable words in language as a wholeFor example the word lsquodreamsrsquo that beginsthe sentence is a word that conveys rich layersof meaning and mystery that did not existprior to the publication of The Interpretationof Dreams (1900) Concentrated in this wordnewly created by Freud are allusions to (1) aconception of a repressed unconscious innerworld that powerfully but obliquely exertsforce on conscious experience and vice

versa (2) a view that sexual desire is presentfrom birth onwards and is rooted in bodilyinstincts which manifest themselves in uni-versal unconscious incestuous wishes parri-cidal fantasies and fears of retaliation in theform of genital mutilation (3) a recognitionof the role of dreaming as an essentialconversation between unconscious and pre-conscious aspects of ourselves and (4) aradical reconceptualisation of human symbol-ogymdashat once universal and exquisitely idio-syncratic to the life history of eachindividual Of course this list is only asampling of the meanings the wordlsquodreamrsquomdashnewly made by Freudmdashinvokes

Similarly the words lsquonormal lifersquo lsquomentaldisordersrsquo and lsquonarcissisticrsquo speak to oneanother and to the word lsquodreamrsquo in ways thatsimply could not have occurred twenty yearsearlier The second half of the sentencesuggests that two other words denotingaspects of human experience will be madeanew in this paper lsquomourningrsquo andlsquomelancholiarsquo5

The logic of the central argument oflsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo begins to unfoldas Freud compares the psychological featuresof mourning to those of melancholia bothare responses to loss and involve lsquograve de-partures from the normal attitude to lifersquo(p 243)6 In melancholia one nds

a profoundly painful dejection cessation of interestin the outside world loss of the capacity to loveinhibition of all activity and a lowering of the self-regarding feelings to a degree that nds utterancein self-reproaches and self-revilings and culmi-nates in a delusional expectation of punishment(p 244)

4Less than a year before writing lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud remarked that no one need wonder abouthis role in the history of psychoanalysis lsquoPsycho-analysis is my creation for ten years I was the only personwho concernedhimself with itrsquo (1914a p 7)5Freudrsquos term melancholia is roughly synonymouswith depressionas the latter term is currently used6Freud comments that lsquoit never occurs to us to regard [mourning] as a pathological condition and to refer itto medical treatment We rely on its being overcome after a certain lapse of time and we look upon anyinterferencewith it as useless or even harmfulrsquo (pp 243ndash244) This observation is offered as a statement of theself-evident and may have been so in Vienna in 1915 But to my mind that understanding today is paid lipservice far more often than it is genuinely honoured

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 769

Freud points out that the same traitscharacterise mourningmdashwith one exceptionlsquothe disturbance of self-regardrsquo Only in retro-spect will the reader realise that the fullweight of the thesis that Freud develops inthis paper rests on this simple observationmade almost in passing lsquoThe disturbance inself-regard is absent in mourning but other-wise the features are the samersquo (p 243) As inevery good detective novel all clues neces-sary for solving the crime are laid out in plainview practically from the outset

With the background of the discussion ofthe similarities and differencesmdashthere is onlyone symptomatic differencemdashbetweenmourning and melancholia the paper seemsabruptly to plunge into the exploration of theunconscious In melancholia the patient andthe analyst may not even know what thepatient has lostmdasha remarkable idea from thepoint of view of common sense in 1915 Evenwhen the melancholic is aware that he hassuffered the loss of a person lsquohe knows whomhe has lost but not what he has lost in himrsquo(p 245) There is ambiguity in Freudrsquoslanguage here is the melancholic unaware ofthe sort of importance the tie to the objectheld for him lsquowhat [it is that the melan-cholic] has lost in [losing] himrsquo Or is themelancholic unaware of what he has lost inhimself as a consequence of losing the objectThe ambiguitymdashwhether or not Freud in-tended itmdashsubtly introduces the importantnotion of the simultaneity and interdepen-dence of two unconscious aspects of objectloss in melancholia One involves the natureof the melancholicrsquos tie to the object and theother involves an alteration of the self inresponse to the loss of the object

This [lack of awareness on the part of the melan-cholic of what he has lost] would suggest thatmelancholia is in some way related to an object-losswhich is withdrawn from consciousness in contra-distinction to mourning in which there is nothingabout the loss that is unconscious(p 245)

In his effort to understand the nature of theunconscious object loss in melancholia

Freud returns to the sole observable sympto-matic difference between mourning andmelancholia the melancholicrsquos diminishedself-esteem

In mourning it is the world which has become poorand empty in melancholia it is the ego itself Thepatient represents his ego to us as worthless incap-able of any achievement and morally despicable hereproaches himself vili es himself and expects to becast out and punished He abases himself beforeeveryone and commiserates with his own relativesfor being connected with anyone so unworthy He isnot of the opinion that a change has taken place inhim but extends his self-criticism back over the pasthe declares that he was never any better (p 246)

More in his use of language than in explicittheoretical statements Freudrsquos model of themind is being reworked here There is asteady ow of subjectndashobject Indashme pairingsin this passage the patient as object re-proaches abases vili es himself as object(and extends the reproaches backwards andforwards in time) What is being suggestedmdashand only suggestedmdashis that these subjectndashobject pairings extend beyond consciousnessinto the timeless unconscious and constitutewhat is going on unconsciously in melancho-lia that is not occurring in mourning Theunconscious is in this sense a metaphoricalplace in which the lsquoIndashmersquo pairings areunconscious psychological contents that ac-tively engage in a continuous timeless attackof the subject (I) upon the object (me) whichdepletes the ego (a concept in transition here)to the point that it becomes lsquopoor and emptyrsquoin the process

The melancholic is ill in that he stands in adifferent relationship to his failings than doesthe mourner The melancholic does not evi-dence the shame one would expect of aperson who experiences himself as lsquopettyegoistic [and] dishonestrsquo (p 246) andinstead demonstrates an lsquoinsistent communi-cativeness which nds satisfaction in self-exposurersquo (p 247) Each time Freud returnsto the observation of the melancholicrsquos dimin-ished self-regard he makes use of it to

770 THOMAS H OGDEN

illuminate a different aspect of the uncon-scious lsquointernal workrsquo (p 245) of melancho-lia This time the observation with itsaccrued set of meanings becomes an impor-tant underpinning for a new conception of theego which to this point has only been hintedat

the melancholicrsquos disorder affords [a view] of theconstitution of the human ego We see how in [themelancholic] one part of the ego sets itself overagainst the other judges it critically and as it weretakes it as its object What we are here becomingacquainted with is the agency commonly calledlsquoconsciencersquo and we shall come upon evidence toshow that it can become diseased on its own account(p 247)

Here Freud is reconceiving the ego inseveral important ways These revisions takentogether constitute the rst of a set of tenetsunderlying Freudrsquos emerging psychoanalytictheory of unconscious internal object rela-tions rst the ego now a psychic structurewith conscious and unconscious components(lsquopartsrsquo) can be split second an unconscioussplit-off aspect of the ego has the capacity togenerate thoughts and feelings indepen-dentlymdashin the case of the critical agencythese thoughts and feelings are of a self-observing moralistic judgemental sort thirda split-off part of the ego may enter into anunconscious relationship to another part ofthe ego and fourth a split-off aspect of theego may be either healthy or pathological

II

The paper becomes positively fugue-like inits structure as Freud takes up againmdashyet in anew waymdashthe sole symptomatic differencebetween mourning and melancholia

If one listens patiently to a melancholicrsquos many andvarious self-accusationsone cannot in the end avoidthe impression that often the most violent of them arehardly at all applicable to the patient himself but thatwith insignicant modi cations they do t someoneelse someone whom the patient loves or has loved or

should love So we nd the key to the clinicalpicture we perceive that the self-reproaches arereproaches against a loved object which have beenshifted away from it on to the patientrsquos own ego(p 248)

Thus Freud as if developing enhancedobservational acuity as he writes sees some-thing he previously had not noticedmdashthat theaccusations the melancholic heaps upon him-self represent unconsciously displaced attackson the loved object This observation servesas a starting point from which Freud goes onto posit a second set of elements of hisobject-relations theory

In considering the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious reproaches of the loved object Freudpicks up a thread that he had introducedearlier in the discussion Melancholia ofteninvolves a psychological struggle involvingambivalent feelings for the loved object as lsquointhe case of a betrothed girl who has beenjiltedrsquo (p 245) Freud elaborates on the roleof ambivalence in melancholia by observingthat melancholics show not the slightesthumility despite their insistence on their ownworthlessness lsquoand always seem as thoughthey felt slighted and had been treated withgreat injusticersquo (p 248) Their intense senseof entitlement and injustice lsquois possible onlybecause the reactions expressed in their be-haviour still proceed from a mental constella-tion of revolt which has then by a certainprocess passed over into the crushed state ofmelancholiarsquo (p 248)

It seems to me that Freud is suggesting thatthe melancholic experiences outrage (as op-posed to anger of other sorts) at the object fordisappointing him and doing him a lsquogreatinjusticersquo This emotional protestrevolt iscrushed in melancholia as a consequence oflsquoa certain processrsquo It is the delineation of thatlsquocertain processrsquo in theoretical terms that willoccupy much of the remainder of lsquoMourningand melancholiarsquo

The reader can hear unmistakable excite-ment in Freudrsquos voice in the sentencethat follows lsquoThere is no dif culty in

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 771

reconstructing this [transformative] processrsquo(p 248) Ideas are falling into place A certainclarity is emerging from the tangle ofseemingly contradictory observations forexample the melancholicrsquos combination ofsevere self-condemnation and vociferousself-righteous outrage In spelling out thepsychological process mediating the mel-ancholicrsquos movement from revolt (againstinjustices he has suffered) to a crushed stateFreud with extraordinary dexterity presentsa radically new conception of the structure ofthe unconscious

An object-choice an attachment of the libido to aparticular person had at one time existed [for themelancholic] then owing to a real slight or disap-pointment coming from this loved person the object-relationship was shattered The result was not thenormal one of a withdrawal of the libido [lovingemotional energy] from this object and a displace-ment of it on to a new one [Instead] the object-cathexis [the emotional investment in the object]proved to have little power of resistance [littlecapacity to maintain the tie to the object] and wasbrought to an end But the free libido was notdisplaced on to another object it was withdrawn intothe ego There it [the loving emotional investmentwhich has been withdrawn from the object] served toestablish an identication of [a part of] the ego withthe abandoned object Thus the shadow of the objectfell upon [a part of] the ego and the latter couldhenceforth be judged by a special agency [anotherpart of the ego] as though it were an object theforsaken object In this way an object-loss wastransformed into an ego-loss and the con ict betweenthe ego and the loved person [was transformed] into acleavage between the critical activity of [a part of]the ego [later to be called the superego] and [another

part of] the ego as altered by identi cation (pp 248ndash249)

These sentences represent a powerfullysuccinct demonstration of the way Freud inthis paper was beginning to writethink theo-retically and clinically in terms of relation-ships between unconscious paired split-offaspects of the ego (ie about unconsciousinternal object relations)7 Freud for the rsttime is gathering together into a coherentnarrative expressed in higher order theor-etical terms his newly conceived revisedmodel of the mind

There is so much going on in this passagethat it is dif cult to know where to start indiscussing it Freudrsquos use of language seemsto me to afford a port of entry into this criticalmoment in the development of psychoanaly-tic thought There is an important shift in thelanguage Freud is using that serves to con-vey a rethinking of an important aspect ofhis conception of melancholia The wordslsquoobject-lossrsquo lsquolost objectrsquo and even lsquolost asan object of loversquo are without comment onFreudrsquos part replaced by the words lsquoaban-doned objectrsquo and lsquoforsaken objectrsquo

The melancholicrsquos lsquoabandonmentrsquo of theobject (as opposed to the mournerrsquos loss ofthe object) involves a paradoxical psycholo-gical event the abandoned object for themelancholic is preserved in the form of anidenti cation with it lsquoThus [in identifyingwith the object] the shadow of the object fellupon the ego rsquo (p 249) In melancholiathe ego is altered not by the glow of theobject but (more darkly) by lsquothe shadow of

7While Freud made use of the idea of lsquoan internal worldrsquo in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo it was Klein (19351940 1952) who transformed the idea into a systematic theory of the structure of the unconscious and of theinterplay between the internal object world and the world of external objects In developing her conception ofthe unconscious Klein richly contributed to a critical alteration of analytic theory She shifted the dominantmetaphors from those associated with Freudrsquos topographic and structural models to a set of spatial metaphors(some stated some only suggested in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo) These spatial metaphors depict anunconscious inner world inhabited by lsquointernal objectsrsquomdashsplit-off aspects of the egomdashthat are bound togetherin lsquointernal object relationshipsrsquo by powerful affective ties (For a discussion of the concepts of lsquointernalobjectsrsquo and lsquointernal object relationsrsquo as these ideas evolved in the work of Freud Abraham Klein Fairbairnand Winnicott see Ogden 1983)

772 THOMAS H OGDEN

the objectrsquo The shadow metaphor suggeststhat the melancholicrsquos experience of identify-ing with the abandoned object has a thintwo-dimensional quality as opposed to alively robust feeling tone The painful experi-ence of loss is short-circuited by the melan-cholicrsquos identi cation with the object thusdenying the separateness of the object theobject is me and I am the object There is noloss an external object (the abandonedobject) is omnipotently replaced by an inter-nal one (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)

So in response to the pain of loss the egois twice split forming an internal objectrelationship in which one split-off part ofthe ego (the critical agency) angrily (withoutrage) turns on another split-off part ofthe ego (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)Although Freud does not speak in theseterms it could be said that the internal objectrelationship is created for purposes of evad-ing the painful feeling of object-loss Thisavoidance is achieved by means of an uncon-scious lsquodeal with the devilrsquo in exchange forthe evasion of the pain of object loss themelancholic is doomed to experience thesense of lifelessness that comes as a conse-quence of disconnecting oneself from largeportions of external reality In this sense themelancholic forfeits a substantial part of hisown lifemdashthe three-dimensional emotionallife lived in the world of real external objectsThe internal world of the melancholic ispowerfully shaped by the wish to hold captivethe object in the form of an imaginary sub-stitute for itmdashthe ego-identi ed-with-the-object In a sense the internalisation of theobject renders the object forever captive tothe melancholic and at the same time rendersthe melancholic endlessly captive to it

A dream of one of my patients comes tomind as a particularly poignant expression ofthe frozen quality of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious internal object world

The patient Mr K began analysis a yearafter the death of his wife of twenty-twoyears In a dream that Mr K reported severalyears into the analysis he was attending a

gathering in which a tribute was to be paid tosomeone whose identity was unclear to himJust as the proceedings were getting underway a man in the audience rose to his feetand spoke glowingly of Mr Krsquos ne characterand important accomplishments When theman nished the patient stood and expressedhis gratitude for the high praise but said thatthe purpose of the meeting was to pay tributeto the guest of honour so the grouprsquos attentionshould be directed to him Immediately uponMr Krsquos sitting down another person stoodand again praised the patient at great lengthMr K again stood and after brie y repeatinghis statement of gratitude for the adulationhe redirected the attention of the gathering tothe honoured guest This sequence was re-peated again and again until the patient hadthe terrifying realisation that this sequencewould go on forever Mr K awoke from thedream with his heart racing in a state ofpanic

The patient had told me in the sessionspreceding the dream that he had becomeincreasingly despairing of ever being able tolove another woman and lsquoresume lifersquo Hesaid he has never ceased expecting his wife toreturn home after work each evening at six-thirty He added that every family event afterher death has been for him nothing more thananother occasion at which his wife is missingHe apologised for his lugubrious self-pityingtones

I told Mr K that I thought that the dreamcaptured a sense of the way he feels impri-soned in his inability genuinely to be inter-ested in much less honour new experienceswith people In the dream he in the form ofthe guests paying endless homage to himdirected to himself what might have beeninterest paid to someone outside of himselfsomeone outside of his internally frozenrelationship with his wife I went on to saythat it was striking that the honoured guest inthe dream was not given a name much lessan identity and human qualities which mighthave stirred curiosity puzzlement angerjealousy envy compassion love admiration

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 773

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

Freud points out that the same traitscharacterise mourningmdashwith one exceptionlsquothe disturbance of self-regardrsquo Only in retro-spect will the reader realise that the fullweight of the thesis that Freud develops inthis paper rests on this simple observationmade almost in passing lsquoThe disturbance inself-regard is absent in mourning but other-wise the features are the samersquo (p 243) As inevery good detective novel all clues neces-sary for solving the crime are laid out in plainview practically from the outset

With the background of the discussion ofthe similarities and differencesmdashthere is onlyone symptomatic differencemdashbetweenmourning and melancholia the paper seemsabruptly to plunge into the exploration of theunconscious In melancholia the patient andthe analyst may not even know what thepatient has lostmdasha remarkable idea from thepoint of view of common sense in 1915 Evenwhen the melancholic is aware that he hassuffered the loss of a person lsquohe knows whomhe has lost but not what he has lost in himrsquo(p 245) There is ambiguity in Freudrsquoslanguage here is the melancholic unaware ofthe sort of importance the tie to the objectheld for him lsquowhat [it is that the melan-cholic] has lost in [losing] himrsquo Or is themelancholic unaware of what he has lost inhimself as a consequence of losing the objectThe ambiguitymdashwhether or not Freud in-tended itmdashsubtly introduces the importantnotion of the simultaneity and interdepen-dence of two unconscious aspects of objectloss in melancholia One involves the natureof the melancholicrsquos tie to the object and theother involves an alteration of the self inresponse to the loss of the object

This [lack of awareness on the part of the melan-cholic of what he has lost] would suggest thatmelancholia is in some way related to an object-losswhich is withdrawn from consciousness in contra-distinction to mourning in which there is nothingabout the loss that is unconscious(p 245)

In his effort to understand the nature of theunconscious object loss in melancholia

Freud returns to the sole observable sympto-matic difference between mourning andmelancholia the melancholicrsquos diminishedself-esteem

In mourning it is the world which has become poorand empty in melancholia it is the ego itself Thepatient represents his ego to us as worthless incap-able of any achievement and morally despicable hereproaches himself vili es himself and expects to becast out and punished He abases himself beforeeveryone and commiserates with his own relativesfor being connected with anyone so unworthy He isnot of the opinion that a change has taken place inhim but extends his self-criticism back over the pasthe declares that he was never any better (p 246)

More in his use of language than in explicittheoretical statements Freudrsquos model of themind is being reworked here There is asteady ow of subjectndashobject Indashme pairingsin this passage the patient as object re-proaches abases vili es himself as object(and extends the reproaches backwards andforwards in time) What is being suggestedmdashand only suggestedmdashis that these subjectndashobject pairings extend beyond consciousnessinto the timeless unconscious and constitutewhat is going on unconsciously in melancho-lia that is not occurring in mourning Theunconscious is in this sense a metaphoricalplace in which the lsquoIndashmersquo pairings areunconscious psychological contents that ac-tively engage in a continuous timeless attackof the subject (I) upon the object (me) whichdepletes the ego (a concept in transition here)to the point that it becomes lsquopoor and emptyrsquoin the process

The melancholic is ill in that he stands in adifferent relationship to his failings than doesthe mourner The melancholic does not evi-dence the shame one would expect of aperson who experiences himself as lsquopettyegoistic [and] dishonestrsquo (p 246) andinstead demonstrates an lsquoinsistent communi-cativeness which nds satisfaction in self-exposurersquo (p 247) Each time Freud returnsto the observation of the melancholicrsquos dimin-ished self-regard he makes use of it to

770 THOMAS H OGDEN

illuminate a different aspect of the uncon-scious lsquointernal workrsquo (p 245) of melancho-lia This time the observation with itsaccrued set of meanings becomes an impor-tant underpinning for a new conception of theego which to this point has only been hintedat

the melancholicrsquos disorder affords [a view] of theconstitution of the human ego We see how in [themelancholic] one part of the ego sets itself overagainst the other judges it critically and as it weretakes it as its object What we are here becomingacquainted with is the agency commonly calledlsquoconsciencersquo and we shall come upon evidence toshow that it can become diseased on its own account(p 247)

Here Freud is reconceiving the ego inseveral important ways These revisions takentogether constitute the rst of a set of tenetsunderlying Freudrsquos emerging psychoanalytictheory of unconscious internal object rela-tions rst the ego now a psychic structurewith conscious and unconscious components(lsquopartsrsquo) can be split second an unconscioussplit-off aspect of the ego has the capacity togenerate thoughts and feelings indepen-dentlymdashin the case of the critical agencythese thoughts and feelings are of a self-observing moralistic judgemental sort thirda split-off part of the ego may enter into anunconscious relationship to another part ofthe ego and fourth a split-off aspect of theego may be either healthy or pathological

II

The paper becomes positively fugue-like inits structure as Freud takes up againmdashyet in anew waymdashthe sole symptomatic differencebetween mourning and melancholia

If one listens patiently to a melancholicrsquos many andvarious self-accusationsone cannot in the end avoidthe impression that often the most violent of them arehardly at all applicable to the patient himself but thatwith insignicant modi cations they do t someoneelse someone whom the patient loves or has loved or

should love So we nd the key to the clinicalpicture we perceive that the self-reproaches arereproaches against a loved object which have beenshifted away from it on to the patientrsquos own ego(p 248)

Thus Freud as if developing enhancedobservational acuity as he writes sees some-thing he previously had not noticedmdashthat theaccusations the melancholic heaps upon him-self represent unconsciously displaced attackson the loved object This observation servesas a starting point from which Freud goes onto posit a second set of elements of hisobject-relations theory

In considering the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious reproaches of the loved object Freudpicks up a thread that he had introducedearlier in the discussion Melancholia ofteninvolves a psychological struggle involvingambivalent feelings for the loved object as lsquointhe case of a betrothed girl who has beenjiltedrsquo (p 245) Freud elaborates on the roleof ambivalence in melancholia by observingthat melancholics show not the slightesthumility despite their insistence on their ownworthlessness lsquoand always seem as thoughthey felt slighted and had been treated withgreat injusticersquo (p 248) Their intense senseof entitlement and injustice lsquois possible onlybecause the reactions expressed in their be-haviour still proceed from a mental constella-tion of revolt which has then by a certainprocess passed over into the crushed state ofmelancholiarsquo (p 248)

It seems to me that Freud is suggesting thatthe melancholic experiences outrage (as op-posed to anger of other sorts) at the object fordisappointing him and doing him a lsquogreatinjusticersquo This emotional protestrevolt iscrushed in melancholia as a consequence oflsquoa certain processrsquo It is the delineation of thatlsquocertain processrsquo in theoretical terms that willoccupy much of the remainder of lsquoMourningand melancholiarsquo

The reader can hear unmistakable excite-ment in Freudrsquos voice in the sentencethat follows lsquoThere is no dif culty in

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 771

reconstructing this [transformative] processrsquo(p 248) Ideas are falling into place A certainclarity is emerging from the tangle ofseemingly contradictory observations forexample the melancholicrsquos combination ofsevere self-condemnation and vociferousself-righteous outrage In spelling out thepsychological process mediating the mel-ancholicrsquos movement from revolt (againstinjustices he has suffered) to a crushed stateFreud with extraordinary dexterity presentsa radically new conception of the structure ofthe unconscious

An object-choice an attachment of the libido to aparticular person had at one time existed [for themelancholic] then owing to a real slight or disap-pointment coming from this loved person the object-relationship was shattered The result was not thenormal one of a withdrawal of the libido [lovingemotional energy] from this object and a displace-ment of it on to a new one [Instead] the object-cathexis [the emotional investment in the object]proved to have little power of resistance [littlecapacity to maintain the tie to the object] and wasbrought to an end But the free libido was notdisplaced on to another object it was withdrawn intothe ego There it [the loving emotional investmentwhich has been withdrawn from the object] served toestablish an identication of [a part of] the ego withthe abandoned object Thus the shadow of the objectfell upon [a part of] the ego and the latter couldhenceforth be judged by a special agency [anotherpart of the ego] as though it were an object theforsaken object In this way an object-loss wastransformed into an ego-loss and the con ict betweenthe ego and the loved person [was transformed] into acleavage between the critical activity of [a part of]the ego [later to be called the superego] and [another

part of] the ego as altered by identi cation (pp 248ndash249)

These sentences represent a powerfullysuccinct demonstration of the way Freud inthis paper was beginning to writethink theo-retically and clinically in terms of relation-ships between unconscious paired split-offaspects of the ego (ie about unconsciousinternal object relations)7 Freud for the rsttime is gathering together into a coherentnarrative expressed in higher order theor-etical terms his newly conceived revisedmodel of the mind

There is so much going on in this passagethat it is dif cult to know where to start indiscussing it Freudrsquos use of language seemsto me to afford a port of entry into this criticalmoment in the development of psychoanaly-tic thought There is an important shift in thelanguage Freud is using that serves to con-vey a rethinking of an important aspect ofhis conception of melancholia The wordslsquoobject-lossrsquo lsquolost objectrsquo and even lsquolost asan object of loversquo are without comment onFreudrsquos part replaced by the words lsquoaban-doned objectrsquo and lsquoforsaken objectrsquo

The melancholicrsquos lsquoabandonmentrsquo of theobject (as opposed to the mournerrsquos loss ofthe object) involves a paradoxical psycholo-gical event the abandoned object for themelancholic is preserved in the form of anidenti cation with it lsquoThus [in identifyingwith the object] the shadow of the object fellupon the ego rsquo (p 249) In melancholiathe ego is altered not by the glow of theobject but (more darkly) by lsquothe shadow of

7While Freud made use of the idea of lsquoan internal worldrsquo in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo it was Klein (19351940 1952) who transformed the idea into a systematic theory of the structure of the unconscious and of theinterplay between the internal object world and the world of external objects In developing her conception ofthe unconscious Klein richly contributed to a critical alteration of analytic theory She shifted the dominantmetaphors from those associated with Freudrsquos topographic and structural models to a set of spatial metaphors(some stated some only suggested in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo) These spatial metaphors depict anunconscious inner world inhabited by lsquointernal objectsrsquomdashsplit-off aspects of the egomdashthat are bound togetherin lsquointernal object relationshipsrsquo by powerful affective ties (For a discussion of the concepts of lsquointernalobjectsrsquo and lsquointernal object relationsrsquo as these ideas evolved in the work of Freud Abraham Klein Fairbairnand Winnicott see Ogden 1983)

772 THOMAS H OGDEN

the objectrsquo The shadow metaphor suggeststhat the melancholicrsquos experience of identify-ing with the abandoned object has a thintwo-dimensional quality as opposed to alively robust feeling tone The painful experi-ence of loss is short-circuited by the melan-cholicrsquos identi cation with the object thusdenying the separateness of the object theobject is me and I am the object There is noloss an external object (the abandonedobject) is omnipotently replaced by an inter-nal one (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)

So in response to the pain of loss the egois twice split forming an internal objectrelationship in which one split-off part ofthe ego (the critical agency) angrily (withoutrage) turns on another split-off part ofthe ego (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)Although Freud does not speak in theseterms it could be said that the internal objectrelationship is created for purposes of evad-ing the painful feeling of object-loss Thisavoidance is achieved by means of an uncon-scious lsquodeal with the devilrsquo in exchange forthe evasion of the pain of object loss themelancholic is doomed to experience thesense of lifelessness that comes as a conse-quence of disconnecting oneself from largeportions of external reality In this sense themelancholic forfeits a substantial part of hisown lifemdashthe three-dimensional emotionallife lived in the world of real external objectsThe internal world of the melancholic ispowerfully shaped by the wish to hold captivethe object in the form of an imaginary sub-stitute for itmdashthe ego-identi ed-with-the-object In a sense the internalisation of theobject renders the object forever captive tothe melancholic and at the same time rendersthe melancholic endlessly captive to it

A dream of one of my patients comes tomind as a particularly poignant expression ofthe frozen quality of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious internal object world

The patient Mr K began analysis a yearafter the death of his wife of twenty-twoyears In a dream that Mr K reported severalyears into the analysis he was attending a

gathering in which a tribute was to be paid tosomeone whose identity was unclear to himJust as the proceedings were getting underway a man in the audience rose to his feetand spoke glowingly of Mr Krsquos ne characterand important accomplishments When theman nished the patient stood and expressedhis gratitude for the high praise but said thatthe purpose of the meeting was to pay tributeto the guest of honour so the grouprsquos attentionshould be directed to him Immediately uponMr Krsquos sitting down another person stoodand again praised the patient at great lengthMr K again stood and after brie y repeatinghis statement of gratitude for the adulationhe redirected the attention of the gathering tothe honoured guest This sequence was re-peated again and again until the patient hadthe terrifying realisation that this sequencewould go on forever Mr K awoke from thedream with his heart racing in a state ofpanic

The patient had told me in the sessionspreceding the dream that he had becomeincreasingly despairing of ever being able tolove another woman and lsquoresume lifersquo Hesaid he has never ceased expecting his wife toreturn home after work each evening at six-thirty He added that every family event afterher death has been for him nothing more thananother occasion at which his wife is missingHe apologised for his lugubrious self-pityingtones

I told Mr K that I thought that the dreamcaptured a sense of the way he feels impri-soned in his inability genuinely to be inter-ested in much less honour new experienceswith people In the dream he in the form ofthe guests paying endless homage to himdirected to himself what might have beeninterest paid to someone outside of himselfsomeone outside of his internally frozenrelationship with his wife I went on to saythat it was striking that the honoured guest inthe dream was not given a name much lessan identity and human qualities which mighthave stirred curiosity puzzlement angerjealousy envy compassion love admiration

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 773

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

illuminate a different aspect of the uncon-scious lsquointernal workrsquo (p 245) of melancho-lia This time the observation with itsaccrued set of meanings becomes an impor-tant underpinning for a new conception of theego which to this point has only been hintedat

the melancholicrsquos disorder affords [a view] of theconstitution of the human ego We see how in [themelancholic] one part of the ego sets itself overagainst the other judges it critically and as it weretakes it as its object What we are here becomingacquainted with is the agency commonly calledlsquoconsciencersquo and we shall come upon evidence toshow that it can become diseased on its own account(p 247)

Here Freud is reconceiving the ego inseveral important ways These revisions takentogether constitute the rst of a set of tenetsunderlying Freudrsquos emerging psychoanalytictheory of unconscious internal object rela-tions rst the ego now a psychic structurewith conscious and unconscious components(lsquopartsrsquo) can be split second an unconscioussplit-off aspect of the ego has the capacity togenerate thoughts and feelings indepen-dentlymdashin the case of the critical agencythese thoughts and feelings are of a self-observing moralistic judgemental sort thirda split-off part of the ego may enter into anunconscious relationship to another part ofthe ego and fourth a split-off aspect of theego may be either healthy or pathological

II

The paper becomes positively fugue-like inits structure as Freud takes up againmdashyet in anew waymdashthe sole symptomatic differencebetween mourning and melancholia

If one listens patiently to a melancholicrsquos many andvarious self-accusationsone cannot in the end avoidthe impression that often the most violent of them arehardly at all applicable to the patient himself but thatwith insignicant modi cations they do t someoneelse someone whom the patient loves or has loved or

should love So we nd the key to the clinicalpicture we perceive that the self-reproaches arereproaches against a loved object which have beenshifted away from it on to the patientrsquos own ego(p 248)

Thus Freud as if developing enhancedobservational acuity as he writes sees some-thing he previously had not noticedmdashthat theaccusations the melancholic heaps upon him-self represent unconsciously displaced attackson the loved object This observation servesas a starting point from which Freud goes onto posit a second set of elements of hisobject-relations theory

In considering the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious reproaches of the loved object Freudpicks up a thread that he had introducedearlier in the discussion Melancholia ofteninvolves a psychological struggle involvingambivalent feelings for the loved object as lsquointhe case of a betrothed girl who has beenjiltedrsquo (p 245) Freud elaborates on the roleof ambivalence in melancholia by observingthat melancholics show not the slightesthumility despite their insistence on their ownworthlessness lsquoand always seem as thoughthey felt slighted and had been treated withgreat injusticersquo (p 248) Their intense senseof entitlement and injustice lsquois possible onlybecause the reactions expressed in their be-haviour still proceed from a mental constella-tion of revolt which has then by a certainprocess passed over into the crushed state ofmelancholiarsquo (p 248)

It seems to me that Freud is suggesting thatthe melancholic experiences outrage (as op-posed to anger of other sorts) at the object fordisappointing him and doing him a lsquogreatinjusticersquo This emotional protestrevolt iscrushed in melancholia as a consequence oflsquoa certain processrsquo It is the delineation of thatlsquocertain processrsquo in theoretical terms that willoccupy much of the remainder of lsquoMourningand melancholiarsquo

The reader can hear unmistakable excite-ment in Freudrsquos voice in the sentencethat follows lsquoThere is no dif culty in

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 771

reconstructing this [transformative] processrsquo(p 248) Ideas are falling into place A certainclarity is emerging from the tangle ofseemingly contradictory observations forexample the melancholicrsquos combination ofsevere self-condemnation and vociferousself-righteous outrage In spelling out thepsychological process mediating the mel-ancholicrsquos movement from revolt (againstinjustices he has suffered) to a crushed stateFreud with extraordinary dexterity presentsa radically new conception of the structure ofthe unconscious

An object-choice an attachment of the libido to aparticular person had at one time existed [for themelancholic] then owing to a real slight or disap-pointment coming from this loved person the object-relationship was shattered The result was not thenormal one of a withdrawal of the libido [lovingemotional energy] from this object and a displace-ment of it on to a new one [Instead] the object-cathexis [the emotional investment in the object]proved to have little power of resistance [littlecapacity to maintain the tie to the object] and wasbrought to an end But the free libido was notdisplaced on to another object it was withdrawn intothe ego There it [the loving emotional investmentwhich has been withdrawn from the object] served toestablish an identication of [a part of] the ego withthe abandoned object Thus the shadow of the objectfell upon [a part of] the ego and the latter couldhenceforth be judged by a special agency [anotherpart of the ego] as though it were an object theforsaken object In this way an object-loss wastransformed into an ego-loss and the con ict betweenthe ego and the loved person [was transformed] into acleavage between the critical activity of [a part of]the ego [later to be called the superego] and [another

part of] the ego as altered by identi cation (pp 248ndash249)

These sentences represent a powerfullysuccinct demonstration of the way Freud inthis paper was beginning to writethink theo-retically and clinically in terms of relation-ships between unconscious paired split-offaspects of the ego (ie about unconsciousinternal object relations)7 Freud for the rsttime is gathering together into a coherentnarrative expressed in higher order theor-etical terms his newly conceived revisedmodel of the mind

There is so much going on in this passagethat it is dif cult to know where to start indiscussing it Freudrsquos use of language seemsto me to afford a port of entry into this criticalmoment in the development of psychoanaly-tic thought There is an important shift in thelanguage Freud is using that serves to con-vey a rethinking of an important aspect ofhis conception of melancholia The wordslsquoobject-lossrsquo lsquolost objectrsquo and even lsquolost asan object of loversquo are without comment onFreudrsquos part replaced by the words lsquoaban-doned objectrsquo and lsquoforsaken objectrsquo

The melancholicrsquos lsquoabandonmentrsquo of theobject (as opposed to the mournerrsquos loss ofthe object) involves a paradoxical psycholo-gical event the abandoned object for themelancholic is preserved in the form of anidenti cation with it lsquoThus [in identifyingwith the object] the shadow of the object fellupon the ego rsquo (p 249) In melancholiathe ego is altered not by the glow of theobject but (more darkly) by lsquothe shadow of

7While Freud made use of the idea of lsquoan internal worldrsquo in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo it was Klein (19351940 1952) who transformed the idea into a systematic theory of the structure of the unconscious and of theinterplay between the internal object world and the world of external objects In developing her conception ofthe unconscious Klein richly contributed to a critical alteration of analytic theory She shifted the dominantmetaphors from those associated with Freudrsquos topographic and structural models to a set of spatial metaphors(some stated some only suggested in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo) These spatial metaphors depict anunconscious inner world inhabited by lsquointernal objectsrsquomdashsplit-off aspects of the egomdashthat are bound togetherin lsquointernal object relationshipsrsquo by powerful affective ties (For a discussion of the concepts of lsquointernalobjectsrsquo and lsquointernal object relationsrsquo as these ideas evolved in the work of Freud Abraham Klein Fairbairnand Winnicott see Ogden 1983)

772 THOMAS H OGDEN

the objectrsquo The shadow metaphor suggeststhat the melancholicrsquos experience of identify-ing with the abandoned object has a thintwo-dimensional quality as opposed to alively robust feeling tone The painful experi-ence of loss is short-circuited by the melan-cholicrsquos identi cation with the object thusdenying the separateness of the object theobject is me and I am the object There is noloss an external object (the abandonedobject) is omnipotently replaced by an inter-nal one (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)

So in response to the pain of loss the egois twice split forming an internal objectrelationship in which one split-off part ofthe ego (the critical agency) angrily (withoutrage) turns on another split-off part ofthe ego (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)Although Freud does not speak in theseterms it could be said that the internal objectrelationship is created for purposes of evad-ing the painful feeling of object-loss Thisavoidance is achieved by means of an uncon-scious lsquodeal with the devilrsquo in exchange forthe evasion of the pain of object loss themelancholic is doomed to experience thesense of lifelessness that comes as a conse-quence of disconnecting oneself from largeportions of external reality In this sense themelancholic forfeits a substantial part of hisown lifemdashthe three-dimensional emotionallife lived in the world of real external objectsThe internal world of the melancholic ispowerfully shaped by the wish to hold captivethe object in the form of an imaginary sub-stitute for itmdashthe ego-identi ed-with-the-object In a sense the internalisation of theobject renders the object forever captive tothe melancholic and at the same time rendersthe melancholic endlessly captive to it

A dream of one of my patients comes tomind as a particularly poignant expression ofthe frozen quality of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious internal object world

The patient Mr K began analysis a yearafter the death of his wife of twenty-twoyears In a dream that Mr K reported severalyears into the analysis he was attending a

gathering in which a tribute was to be paid tosomeone whose identity was unclear to himJust as the proceedings were getting underway a man in the audience rose to his feetand spoke glowingly of Mr Krsquos ne characterand important accomplishments When theman nished the patient stood and expressedhis gratitude for the high praise but said thatthe purpose of the meeting was to pay tributeto the guest of honour so the grouprsquos attentionshould be directed to him Immediately uponMr Krsquos sitting down another person stoodand again praised the patient at great lengthMr K again stood and after brie y repeatinghis statement of gratitude for the adulationhe redirected the attention of the gathering tothe honoured guest This sequence was re-peated again and again until the patient hadthe terrifying realisation that this sequencewould go on forever Mr K awoke from thedream with his heart racing in a state ofpanic

The patient had told me in the sessionspreceding the dream that he had becomeincreasingly despairing of ever being able tolove another woman and lsquoresume lifersquo Hesaid he has never ceased expecting his wife toreturn home after work each evening at six-thirty He added that every family event afterher death has been for him nothing more thananother occasion at which his wife is missingHe apologised for his lugubrious self-pityingtones

I told Mr K that I thought that the dreamcaptured a sense of the way he feels impri-soned in his inability genuinely to be inter-ested in much less honour new experienceswith people In the dream he in the form ofthe guests paying endless homage to himdirected to himself what might have beeninterest paid to someone outside of himselfsomeone outside of his internally frozenrelationship with his wife I went on to saythat it was striking that the honoured guest inthe dream was not given a name much lessan identity and human qualities which mighthave stirred curiosity puzzlement angerjealousy envy compassion love admiration

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 773

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

reconstructing this [transformative] processrsquo(p 248) Ideas are falling into place A certainclarity is emerging from the tangle ofseemingly contradictory observations forexample the melancholicrsquos combination ofsevere self-condemnation and vociferousself-righteous outrage In spelling out thepsychological process mediating the mel-ancholicrsquos movement from revolt (againstinjustices he has suffered) to a crushed stateFreud with extraordinary dexterity presentsa radically new conception of the structure ofthe unconscious

An object-choice an attachment of the libido to aparticular person had at one time existed [for themelancholic] then owing to a real slight or disap-pointment coming from this loved person the object-relationship was shattered The result was not thenormal one of a withdrawal of the libido [lovingemotional energy] from this object and a displace-ment of it on to a new one [Instead] the object-cathexis [the emotional investment in the object]proved to have little power of resistance [littlecapacity to maintain the tie to the object] and wasbrought to an end But the free libido was notdisplaced on to another object it was withdrawn intothe ego There it [the loving emotional investmentwhich has been withdrawn from the object] served toestablish an identication of [a part of] the ego withthe abandoned object Thus the shadow of the objectfell upon [a part of] the ego and the latter couldhenceforth be judged by a special agency [anotherpart of the ego] as though it were an object theforsaken object In this way an object-loss wastransformed into an ego-loss and the con ict betweenthe ego and the loved person [was transformed] into acleavage between the critical activity of [a part of]the ego [later to be called the superego] and [another

part of] the ego as altered by identi cation (pp 248ndash249)

These sentences represent a powerfullysuccinct demonstration of the way Freud inthis paper was beginning to writethink theo-retically and clinically in terms of relation-ships between unconscious paired split-offaspects of the ego (ie about unconsciousinternal object relations)7 Freud for the rsttime is gathering together into a coherentnarrative expressed in higher order theor-etical terms his newly conceived revisedmodel of the mind

There is so much going on in this passagethat it is dif cult to know where to start indiscussing it Freudrsquos use of language seemsto me to afford a port of entry into this criticalmoment in the development of psychoanaly-tic thought There is an important shift in thelanguage Freud is using that serves to con-vey a rethinking of an important aspect ofhis conception of melancholia The wordslsquoobject-lossrsquo lsquolost objectrsquo and even lsquolost asan object of loversquo are without comment onFreudrsquos part replaced by the words lsquoaban-doned objectrsquo and lsquoforsaken objectrsquo

The melancholicrsquos lsquoabandonmentrsquo of theobject (as opposed to the mournerrsquos loss ofthe object) involves a paradoxical psycholo-gical event the abandoned object for themelancholic is preserved in the form of anidenti cation with it lsquoThus [in identifyingwith the object] the shadow of the object fellupon the ego rsquo (p 249) In melancholiathe ego is altered not by the glow of theobject but (more darkly) by lsquothe shadow of

7While Freud made use of the idea of lsquoan internal worldrsquo in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo it was Klein (19351940 1952) who transformed the idea into a systematic theory of the structure of the unconscious and of theinterplay between the internal object world and the world of external objects In developing her conception ofthe unconscious Klein richly contributed to a critical alteration of analytic theory She shifted the dominantmetaphors from those associated with Freudrsquos topographic and structural models to a set of spatial metaphors(some stated some only suggested in lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo) These spatial metaphors depict anunconscious inner world inhabited by lsquointernal objectsrsquomdashsplit-off aspects of the egomdashthat are bound togetherin lsquointernal object relationshipsrsquo by powerful affective ties (For a discussion of the concepts of lsquointernalobjectsrsquo and lsquointernal object relationsrsquo as these ideas evolved in the work of Freud Abraham Klein Fairbairnand Winnicott see Ogden 1983)

772 THOMAS H OGDEN

the objectrsquo The shadow metaphor suggeststhat the melancholicrsquos experience of identify-ing with the abandoned object has a thintwo-dimensional quality as opposed to alively robust feeling tone The painful experi-ence of loss is short-circuited by the melan-cholicrsquos identi cation with the object thusdenying the separateness of the object theobject is me and I am the object There is noloss an external object (the abandonedobject) is omnipotently replaced by an inter-nal one (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)

So in response to the pain of loss the egois twice split forming an internal objectrelationship in which one split-off part ofthe ego (the critical agency) angrily (withoutrage) turns on another split-off part ofthe ego (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)Although Freud does not speak in theseterms it could be said that the internal objectrelationship is created for purposes of evad-ing the painful feeling of object-loss Thisavoidance is achieved by means of an uncon-scious lsquodeal with the devilrsquo in exchange forthe evasion of the pain of object loss themelancholic is doomed to experience thesense of lifelessness that comes as a conse-quence of disconnecting oneself from largeportions of external reality In this sense themelancholic forfeits a substantial part of hisown lifemdashthe three-dimensional emotionallife lived in the world of real external objectsThe internal world of the melancholic ispowerfully shaped by the wish to hold captivethe object in the form of an imaginary sub-stitute for itmdashthe ego-identi ed-with-the-object In a sense the internalisation of theobject renders the object forever captive tothe melancholic and at the same time rendersthe melancholic endlessly captive to it

A dream of one of my patients comes tomind as a particularly poignant expression ofthe frozen quality of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious internal object world

The patient Mr K began analysis a yearafter the death of his wife of twenty-twoyears In a dream that Mr K reported severalyears into the analysis he was attending a

gathering in which a tribute was to be paid tosomeone whose identity was unclear to himJust as the proceedings were getting underway a man in the audience rose to his feetand spoke glowingly of Mr Krsquos ne characterand important accomplishments When theman nished the patient stood and expressedhis gratitude for the high praise but said thatthe purpose of the meeting was to pay tributeto the guest of honour so the grouprsquos attentionshould be directed to him Immediately uponMr Krsquos sitting down another person stoodand again praised the patient at great lengthMr K again stood and after brie y repeatinghis statement of gratitude for the adulationhe redirected the attention of the gathering tothe honoured guest This sequence was re-peated again and again until the patient hadthe terrifying realisation that this sequencewould go on forever Mr K awoke from thedream with his heart racing in a state ofpanic

The patient had told me in the sessionspreceding the dream that he had becomeincreasingly despairing of ever being able tolove another woman and lsquoresume lifersquo Hesaid he has never ceased expecting his wife toreturn home after work each evening at six-thirty He added that every family event afterher death has been for him nothing more thananother occasion at which his wife is missingHe apologised for his lugubrious self-pityingtones

I told Mr K that I thought that the dreamcaptured a sense of the way he feels impri-soned in his inability genuinely to be inter-ested in much less honour new experienceswith people In the dream he in the form ofthe guests paying endless homage to himdirected to himself what might have beeninterest paid to someone outside of himselfsomeone outside of his internally frozenrelationship with his wife I went on to saythat it was striking that the honoured guest inthe dream was not given a name much lessan identity and human qualities which mighthave stirred curiosity puzzlement angerjealousy envy compassion love admiration

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 773

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

the objectrsquo The shadow metaphor suggeststhat the melancholicrsquos experience of identify-ing with the abandoned object has a thintwo-dimensional quality as opposed to alively robust feeling tone The painful experi-ence of loss is short-circuited by the melan-cholicrsquos identi cation with the object thusdenying the separateness of the object theobject is me and I am the object There is noloss an external object (the abandonedobject) is omnipotently replaced by an inter-nal one (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)

So in response to the pain of loss the egois twice split forming an internal objectrelationship in which one split-off part ofthe ego (the critical agency) angrily (withoutrage) turns on another split-off part ofthe ego (the ego-identi ed-with-the-object)Although Freud does not speak in theseterms it could be said that the internal objectrelationship is created for purposes of evad-ing the painful feeling of object-loss Thisavoidance is achieved by means of an uncon-scious lsquodeal with the devilrsquo in exchange forthe evasion of the pain of object loss themelancholic is doomed to experience thesense of lifelessness that comes as a conse-quence of disconnecting oneself from largeportions of external reality In this sense themelancholic forfeits a substantial part of hisown lifemdashthe three-dimensional emotionallife lived in the world of real external objectsThe internal world of the melancholic ispowerfully shaped by the wish to hold captivethe object in the form of an imaginary sub-stitute for itmdashthe ego-identi ed-with-the-object In a sense the internalisation of theobject renders the object forever captive tothe melancholic and at the same time rendersthe melancholic endlessly captive to it

A dream of one of my patients comes tomind as a particularly poignant expression ofthe frozen quality of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious internal object world

The patient Mr K began analysis a yearafter the death of his wife of twenty-twoyears In a dream that Mr K reported severalyears into the analysis he was attending a

gathering in which a tribute was to be paid tosomeone whose identity was unclear to himJust as the proceedings were getting underway a man in the audience rose to his feetand spoke glowingly of Mr Krsquos ne characterand important accomplishments When theman nished the patient stood and expressedhis gratitude for the high praise but said thatthe purpose of the meeting was to pay tributeto the guest of honour so the grouprsquos attentionshould be directed to him Immediately uponMr Krsquos sitting down another person stoodand again praised the patient at great lengthMr K again stood and after brie y repeatinghis statement of gratitude for the adulationhe redirected the attention of the gathering tothe honoured guest This sequence was re-peated again and again until the patient hadthe terrifying realisation that this sequencewould go on forever Mr K awoke from thedream with his heart racing in a state ofpanic

The patient had told me in the sessionspreceding the dream that he had becomeincreasingly despairing of ever being able tolove another woman and lsquoresume lifersquo Hesaid he has never ceased expecting his wife toreturn home after work each evening at six-thirty He added that every family event afterher death has been for him nothing more thananother occasion at which his wife is missingHe apologised for his lugubrious self-pityingtones

I told Mr K that I thought that the dreamcaptured a sense of the way he feels impri-soned in his inability genuinely to be inter-ested in much less honour new experienceswith people In the dream he in the form ofthe guests paying endless homage to himdirected to himself what might have beeninterest paid to someone outside of himselfsomeone outside of his internally frozenrelationship with his wife I went on to saythat it was striking that the honoured guest inthe dream was not given a name much lessan identity and human qualities which mighthave stirred curiosity puzzlement angerjealousy envy compassion love admiration

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 773

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

or any other set of feeling responses toanother person I added that the horror he feltat the end of the dream seemed to re ect hisawareness that the static state of self-imprisonment in which he lives is potentiallyendless (A good deal of this interpretationreferred back to many discussions Mr K and Ihad had concerning his state of being lsquostuckrsquoin a world that no longer existed) Mr Kresponded by telling me that as I was speak-ing he remembered another part of the dreammade up of a single still image of himselfwrapped in heavy chains unable to move evena single muscle of his body He said he feltrepelled by the extreme passivity of theimage

The dreams and the discussion that fol-lowed represented something of a turningpoint in the analysis The patientrsquos response toseparations from me between sessions andduring weekend and holiday breaks becameless frighteningly bleak for him In the periodfollowing this session Mr K found that hesometimes could go for hours without experi-encing the heavy bodily sensation in his chestthat he had lived with unremittingly since hiswifersquos death

While the idea of the melancholicrsquos uncon-scious identi cation with the lostabandonedobject for Freud held lsquothe key to the clinicalpicturersquo (p 248) of melancholia Freud be-lieved that the key to the theoretical problemof melancholia would have to satisfactorilyresolve an important contradiction

On the one hand a strong xation [an intense yetstatic emotional tie] to the loved object must havebeen present on the other hand in contradiction tothis the object-cathexis must have had little powerof resistance [ie little power to maintain that tieto the object in the face of actual or feared deathof the object or object-loss as a consequence ofdisappointment] (p 249)

The lsquokeyrsquo to a psychoanalytic theory ofmelancholia that resolves the contradiction ofthe coexisting strong xation to the objectand the lack of tenacity of that object-tie liesfor Freud in the concept of narcissism lsquothiscontradiction seems to imply that the object-choice has been effected on a narcissisticbasis so that the object-cathexis when ob-stacles come in its way can regress tonarcissismrsquo (p 249)

Freudrsquos theory of narcissism which he hadintroduced only months earlier in his paperlsquoOn narcissism an introductionrsquo (1914b)provided an important part of the context forthe object-relations theory of melancholiathat Freud was developing in lsquoMourning andmelancholiarsquo In his narcissism paper Freudproposed that the normal infant begins in astate of lsquooriginalrsquo or lsquoprimary narcissismrsquo(p 75) a state in which all emotional energyis ego-libido a form of emotional investmentthat takes the ego (oneself) as its sole objectThe infantrsquos initial step towards the worldoutside of himself is in the form of narcissis-tic identi cationmdasha type of object-tie thattreats the external object as an extension ofoneself

From the psychological position of narcis-sistic identi cation the healthy infant intime develops suf cient psychological stabi-lity to engage in a narcissistic form ofrelatedness to objects in which the tie to theobject is largely comprised of a displacementof ego-libido from the ego on to the object(Freud 1914b) In other words a narcissisticobject-tie is one in which the object isinvested with emotional energy that originallywas directed at oneself (and in that sense theobject is a stand-in for the self) The move-ment from narcissistic identi cation to narcis-sistic object-tie is a matter of a shift in thedegree of recognition of and emotionalinvestment in the otherness of the object8

8At the same time as the infant is engaged in the movement from narcissistic identi cation to narcissisticobject-tie he is simultaneously engaged in the development of a lsquotype of object-choice [driven by object-libido] which may be called the lsquolsquoanacliticrsquorsquoor lsquolsquoattachment typersquorsquorsquo (Freud 1914b p 87) The latter form ofobject relatedness has its lsquosourcersquo (p 87) in the infantrsquos lsquooriginal attachment [to] the persons who are

774 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

The healthy infant is able to achieveprogessive differentiation of and comple-mentarity between ego-libido and object-libido In this process of differentiation heis beginning to engage in a form of object-love that is not simply a displacement oflove of oneself on to the object Instead amore mature form of object-love evolves inwhich the infant achieves relatedness toobjects that are experienced as external tohimselfmdashoutside the realm of the infantrsquosomnipotence

Herein lies for Freud the key to thetheoretical problemmdashthe lsquocontradictionrsquomdashposed by melancholia melancholia is adisease of narcissism A necessary lsquoprecondi-tionrsquo (p 249) for melancholia is a disturbancein early narcissistic development The melan-cholic patient in infancy and childhood wasunable to move successfully from narcissisticobject-love to mature object-love involving aperson who is experienced as separate fromhimself Consequently in the face of object-loss or disappointment the melancholic isincapable of mourning ie unable to face thefull impact of the reality of the loss of theobject and over time to enter into matureobject-love with another person The melan-cholic does not have the capacity to disen-gage from the lost object and instead evadesthe pain of loss through regression fromnarcissistic object relatedness to narcissisticidenti cation lsquothe result of which is that inspite of the con ict [disappointment leadingto outrage] with the loved person the loverelation need not be given uprsquo (p 249) AsFreud put it in a summary statement near theend of the paper lsquoSo by taking ight into theego [by means of a powerful narcissisticidenti cation] love escapes extinctionrsquo(p 257)

A misreading of lsquoMourning and melancho-liarsquo to my mind has become entrenched in

what is commonly held to be Freudrsquos view ofmelancholia (see for example Gay 1988 pp372ndash3) What I am referring to is themisconception that melancholia according toFreud involves an identi cation with thehated aspect of an ambivalently loved objectthat has been lost Such a reading whileaccurate so far as it goes misses the centralpoint of Freudrsquos thesis What differentiatesthe melancholic from the mourner is the factthat the melancholic all along has been ableto engage only in narcissistic forms of objectrelatedness The narcissistic nature of themelancholicrsquos personality renders him incap-able of maintaining a rm connection withthe painful reality of the irrevocable loss ofthe object that is necessary for mourningMelancholia involves ready re exive re-course to regression to narcissistic identi ca-tion as a way of not experiencing the hardedge of recognition of onersquos inability to undothe fact of the loss of the object Object-relations theory as it is taking shape in thecourse of Freudrsquos writing this paper nowincludes an early developmental axis Theworld of unconscious internal object relationsis being viewed by Freud as a defensiveregression to very early forms of objectrelatedness in response to psychologicalpainmdashin the case of the melancholic the painis the pain of loss The individual replaceswhat might have become a three-dimensionalrelatedness to the mortal and at times dis-appointing external object with a two-dimensional (shadow-like) relationship to aninternal object that exists in a psychologicaldomain outside of time (and consequentlysheltered from the reality of death) In sodoing the melancholic evades the pain of lossand by extension other forms of psychologi-cal pain but does so at an enormous costmdashthe loss of a good deal of his own (emotional)vitality

concerned with a childrsquos feeding care and protection rsquo (p 87) In health the two forms of objectrelatednessmdashnarcissistic and attachment-typemdashdevelop lsquoside by sidersquo (p 87) Under less than optimalenvironmental or biological circumstances the infant may develop psychopathology characterised by analmost exclusive reliance on narcissisticobject relatedness (as opposed to relatednessof an attachment sort)

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 775

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

III

Having hypothesised the melancholicrsquossubstitution of an unconscious internal objectrelationship for an external one and havingwed this to a conception of defensive regres-sion to narcissistic identi cation Freud turnsto a third de ning feature of melancholiawhich as will be seen provides the basis foranother important feature of his psychoanaly-tic theory of unconscious internal objectrelationships

In melancholia the occasions which give rise to theillness extend for the most part beyond the clear caseof a loss by death and include all those situations ofbeing slighted neglected or disappointed which canimport opposed feelings of love and hate into therelationship or reinforce an already existing ambiva-lence The melancholicrsquos erotic cathexis [eroticemotional investment in the object] has thusundergone a double vicissitude part of it hasregressed to [narcissistic] identi cation but the otherpart under the in uence of the con ict due toambivalence has been carried back to the stage ofsadism (pp 251ndash2)

Sadism is a form of object-tie in whichhate (the melancholicrsquos outrage at the object)becomes inextricably intertwined with eroticlove and in this combined state can be aneven more powerful binding force (in asuffocating subjugating tyrannising way)than the ties of love alone The sadism inmelancholia (generated in response to theloss of or disappointment by a loved object)gives rise to a special form of torment forboth the subject and the objectmdashthat particu-lar mixture of love and hate encountered instalking In this sense the sadistic aspect ofthe relationship of the critical agency to thesplit-off ego-identi ed-with-the-object mightbe thought of as a relentless crazed stalkingof one split-off aspect of the ego by an-othermdashwhat Fairbairn (1944) would laterview as the lovehate bond between thelibidinal ego and the exciting object

This conception of the enormous bindingforce of combined love and hate is an integral

part of the psychoanalytic understanding ofthe astounding durability of pathologicalinternal object relations Such allegiance tothe bad (hated and hating) internal object isoften the source for both the stability of thepathological structure of the patientrsquos person-ality organisation and for some of the mostintractable transferencendashcountertransferenceimpasses that we encounter in analytic workIn addition the bonds of love mixed with hateaccount for such forms of pathological rela-tionships as the ferocious ties of the abusedchild and the battered spouse to their abusers(and the tie of the abusers to the abused) Theabuse is unconsciously experienced by bothabused and abuser as loving hate and hatefullovemdashboth of which are far preferable to noobject relationship at all (Fairbairn 1944)

IV

Employing one of his favourite extendedmetaphorsmdashthe analyst as detectivemdashFreudcreates in his writing a sense of adventurerisk-taking and even suspense as he takes onlsquothe most remarkable characteristic of mel-ancholia its tendency to change round intomaniamdasha state which is the opposite of it inits symptomsrsquo (p 253) Freudrsquos use of lan-guage in his discussion of maniamdashwhich isinseparable from the ideas he presentsmdashcreates for the reader a sense of the funda-mental differences between mourning andmelancholia and between healthy (internaland external) object relationships and patho-logical ones

I cannot promise that this attempt [to explain mania]will prove entirely satisfactory It hardly carries usmuch beyond the possibility of taking onersquos initialbearings We have two things to go upon the rst is apsycho-analytic impression and the second what wemay perhaps call a matter of general economicexperience The [psycho-analytic]impression [is]that both disorders [mania and melancholia] arewrestling with the same [unconscious] lsquocomplexrsquobut that probably in melancholia the ego hassuccumbed to the complex [in the form of a painful

776 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

feeling of having been crushed] whereas in mania ithas mastered it [the pain of loss] or pushed it aside(pp 253ndash4)

The second of the two things lsquowe have to go uponrsquo is lsquogeneral economic experiencersquoIn attempting to account for the feelings ofexuberance and triumph in mania Freudhypothesised that the economics of maniamdashthe quantitative distribution and play ofpsychological forcesmdashmay be similar tothose seen when

some poor wretch by winning a large sum of moneyis suddenly relieved from chronic worry about hisdaily bread or when a long and arduous struggle is nally crowned with success or when a man ndshimself in a position to throw off at a single blowsome oppressive compulsion some false positionwhich he has long had to keep up and so on (p 254)

Beginning with the pun on lsquoeconomicconditionsrsquo in the description of the poorwretch who wins a great deal of money thesentence goes on to capture something of thefeel of mania in its succession of imageswhich are unlike any other set of images inthe article These dramatic cameos suggest tome Freudrsquos own understandable magicalwishes to have his own lsquoarduous struggle nally crowned with successrsquo or to be able lsquotothrow off at a single blow [his own] oppressive compulsionrsquo to write prodigiousnumbers of books and articles in his efforts toattain for himself and psychoanalysis thestature they deserve And like the inevitableend of the expanding bubble of mania thedriving force of the succession of imagesseems to collapse into the sentences thatimmediately follow

This explanation [of mania by analogy to other formsof sudden release from pain] certainly soundsplausible but in the rst place it is too inde nite andsecondly it gives rise to more new problems anddoubts than we can answer We will not evade adiscussion of them even though we cannot expect itto lead us to a clear understanding(p 255)

Freudmdashwhether or not he was aware of

itmdashis doing more than alerting the reader tohis uncertainties regarding how to understandmania and its relation to melancholia he isshowing the reader in his use of language inthe structure of his thinking and writing whatit sounds like and feels like to think and writein a way that does not attempt to confuse whatis omnipotently self-deceptively wished forwith what is real words are used in an effortto simply accurately clearly give ideas andsituations their proper names

Bionrsquos work provides a useful context forunderstanding more fully the signi cance ofFreudrsquos comment that he will not lsquoevadersquo thenew problems and doubts to which hishypothesis gives rise Bion (1962) uses theidea of evasion to refer to what he believes tobe a hallmark of psychosis eluding painrather than attempting to symbolise it foroneself (for example in dreaming) live withit and do genuine psychological work with itover time The latter response to painmdashlivingwith it symbolising it for oneself and doingpsychological work with itmdashlies at the heartof the experience of mourning In contrastthe manic patient who lsquomaster[s] the [pain ofloss] or push[es] it asidersquo (Freud 1917ap 254) transforms what might become afeeling of a terrible disappointment alone-ness and impotent rage into a state resem-bling lsquojoy exultation or triumphrsquo (p 254)

I believe that Freud here without explicitacknowledgementmdashand perhaps withoutconscious awarenessmdashbegins to address thepsychotic edge of mania and melancholiaThe psychotic aspect of both mania andmelancholia involve the evasion of grief aswell as a good deal of external reality This iseffected by means of multiple splittings of theego in conjunction with the creation of atimeless imaginary internal object relation-ship which omnipotently substitutes for theloss of a real external object relationshipMore broadly speaking a fantasied uncon-scious internal object world replaces anactual external one omnipotence replaceshelplessness immortality substitutes for theuncompromising realities of the passage of

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 777

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

time and of death triumph replaces despaircontempt substitutes for love

Thus Freud (in part explicitly in partimplicitly and perhaps in part unknowingly)through his discussion of mania adds anotherimportant element to his evolving object-relations theory The reader can hear inFreudrsquos use of language (for example in hiscomments on the manic patientrsquos trium-phantly pushing aside the pain of loss andexulting in his imaginary victory over the lostobject) the idea that the unconscious internalobject world of the manic patient is con-structed for the purpose of evading lsquotaking ightrsquo (p 257) from the external reality ofloss and death This act of taking ight fromexternal reality has the effect of plunging thepatient into a sphere of omnipotent thinkingcut off from life lived in relation to ac-tual external objects The world of externalobject relations becomes depleted as a con-sequence of its having been disconnectedfrom the individualrsquos unconscious internalobject world The patientrsquos experience in theworld of external objects is disconnectedfrom the enlivening lsquo rersquo (Loewald 1978 p189) of the unconscious internal object worldConversely the unconscious internal objectworld having been cut off from the world ofexternal objects cannot grow cannot lsquolearnfrom experiencersquo (Bion 1962) and cannotenter (in more than a very limited way) intogenerative lsquoconversationsrsquo between uncon-scious and preconscious aspects of oneself lsquoatthe frontier of dreamingrsquo (Ogden 2001b)

V

Freud concludes the paper with a series ofthoughts on a wide range of topics related tomourning and melancholia Of these Freudrsquosexpansion of the concept of ambivalence is Ibelieve the one that represents the mostimportant contribution both to the under-standing of melancholia and to the develop-ment of his object-relations theory Freud haddiscussed on many previous occasions begin-

ning as early as 1900 a view of ambivalenceas an unconscious con ict of love and hate inwhich the individual unconsciously loves thesame person he hates for example in thedistressing ambivalence of healthy oedipalexperience or in the paralysing torments ofthe ambivalence of the obsessional neuroticIn lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo Freud usesthe term ambivalence in a strikingly differentway he uses it to refer to a struggle betweenthe wish to live with the living and the wish tobe at one with the dead

hate and love contend with each other [inmelancholia] the one seeks to detach the libido fromthe object [thus allowing the subject to live and theobject to die] the other to maintain this position ofthe libido [which is bonded to the immortal internalversion of the object] (p 256)

Thus the melancholic experiences a con- ict between on the one hand the wish to bealive with the pain of irreversible loss and thereality of death and on the other hand thewish to deaden himself to the pain of loss andthe knowledge of death The individual cap-able of mourning succeeds in freeing himselffrom the struggle between life and death thatfreezes the melancholic lsquomourning impelsthe ego to give up the object by declaring theobject to be dead and offering the ego theinducement of continuing to live rsquo (p257) So the mournerrsquos painful acceptance ofthe reality of the death of the object isachieved in part because the mourner knows(unconsciously and at times consciously) thathis own life his own capacity for lsquocontinuingto liversquo is at stake

I am reminded of a patient who begananalysis with me almost twenty years afterthe death of her husband Ms G told me thatnot long after her husbandrsquos death she hadspent a weekend alone at a lake where foreach of the fteen years before his death sheand her husband had rented a cabin She toldme that during a trip to the lake soon after hisdeath she had set out alone in a motorboatand headed towards a labyrinth of small

778 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

islands and tortuous waterways that she andher husband had explored many times Ms Gsaid that the idea had come to her with asense of absolute certainty that her husbandwas in that set of waterways and that if shewere to have entered that part of the lake shenever would have come out because shewould not have been able to lsquotearrsquo herselfaway from him She told me that she had hadto ght with all her might not to go to be withher husband

That decision not to follow her husbandinto death became an important symbol in theanalysis of the patientrsquos choosing to live herlife in a world lled with the pain of grief andher living memories of her husband As theanalysis proceeded that same event at thelake came to symbolise something quitedifferent the incompleteness of her act oflsquotearingrsquo herself away from her husband afterhis death It became increasingly clear in thetransferencendashcountertransference that in animportant sense a part of herself had gonewith her husband into death that is an aspectof herself had been deadened and that thathad been lsquoall rightrsquo with her until thatjuncture in the analysis

In the course of the subsequent year ofanalysis Ms G experienced a sense ofenormous lossmdashnot only the loss of herhusband but also the loss of her own life Sheconfronted for the rst time the pain andsadness of the recognition of the ways shehad for decades unconsciously limited herselfwith regard to utilising her intelligence andartistic talents as well as her capacities to befully alive in her everyday experience (in-cluding her analysis) (I do not view Ms G asmanic or even as relying heavily on manic

defences but I believe that she holds incommon with the manic patient a form ofambivalence that involves a tension betweenon the one hand the wish to live life amongthe livingmdashinternally and externallymdashandon the other hand the wish to exist with thedead in a timeless dead and deadening inter-nal object world)

Returning to Freudrsquos discussion of maniathe manic patient is engaged in a lsquostruggle ofambivalence [in a desperate unconsciouseffort to come to life through] loosen[ing]the xation of the libido to the [internal]object by disparaging it denigrating it andeven as it were killing itrsquo (p 257)9 Thissentence is surprising mania represents notonly the patientrsquos effort to evade the pain ofgrief by disparaging and denigrating theobject Mania also represents the patientrsquos(often unsuccessful) attempts to achieve griefby freeing himself from the mutual captivityinvolved in the unconscious internal relation-ship with the lost object In order to grievethe loss of the object one must rst kill itthat is one must do the psychological workof allowing the object to be irrevocably deadboth in onersquos own mind and in the externalworld

By introducing the notion of a form ofambivalence involving the struggle betweenthe wish to go on living and the wish todeaden oneself in an effort to be with thedead Freud added a critical dimension to hisobject-relations theory the notion that uncon-scious internal object relations may haveeither a living and enlivening quality or adead and deadening quality (and by exten-sion every possible combination of the two)Such a way of conceiving the internal object

9The reader can hear the voice of Melanie Klein (1935 1940) in this part of Freudrsquos comments on mania Allthree elements of Kleinrsquos (1935) well-known clinical triad characterising mania and the manic defencemdashcontrol contempt and triumphmdashcan be found in nascent form in Freudrsquos conception of mania The objectnever will be lost or missed because it is in unconsciousfantasy under onersquos omnipotent control so there is nodanger of losing it even if the object were to be lost it would not matter because the contemptible object islsquovaluelessrsquo (p 257) and one is better off without it moreover being without the object is a lsquotriumphrsquo (p 254)an occasion for lsquoenjoy[ing]rsquo (p 257) onersquos emancipation from the burdensome albatross that has been hangingfrom onersquos neck

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 779

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

world has been central to recent develop-ments in psychoanalytic theory pioneered byWinnicott (1971) and Green (1983) Theseauthors have placed emphasis on the impor-tance of the analystrsquos and the patientrsquos experi-ences of the aliveness and deadness of thepatientrsquos internal object world The sense ofaliveness and deadness of the transferencendashcountertransference is to my mind perhapsthe single most important measure of thestatus of the analytic process on a moment-to-moment basis (Ogden 1995 1997) Thesound of much of current analytic thinkingmdashand I suspect the sound of psychoanalyticthinking yet to comemdashcan be heard inFreudrsquos lsquoMourning and melancholiarsquo if weknow how to listen

Freud closes the paper with a voice ofgenuine humility breaking off his enquirymid-thought

mdashBut here once again it will be well to call a haltand to postpone any further explanation of mania As we already know the interdependence of thecomplicated problems of the mind forces us to breakoff every enquiry before it is completedmdashtill theoutcome of some other enquiry can come to itsassistance (p 259)

How better to end a paper on the pain offacing reality and the consequences of at-tempts to evade it The solipsistic world of apsychoanalytic theorist who is not rmlygrounded in the reality of his lived experiencewith patients is very similar to the self-imprisoned melancholic who survives in atimeless deathless (and yet deadened anddeadening) internal object world

Translations of summary

Der Autor prasentiert ein neuerliches Lesen vonFreuds lsquolsquoTrauer und Melancholiersquorsquo in dem er nichtnur die Ideen die Freud einfuhrte pruft sondernauch was gleich wichtig ist die Art und Weise wieer in dieser entscheidenenden Arbeit denkt undschreibt Der Autor zeigt wie Freud seine Er-forschungder unbewusstenArbeit der Trauer und derMelancholie benutzt um einige der Hauptlehrsatze

eines revidierten Modells der Psyche vorzustellenund zu erforschen (was spater lsquoObjektbeziehungsthe-oriersquo genannt wird) Die prinzipiellen Lehren seinesrevidierten Modells das er in dieser Arbeit 1917vorstellt beinhalten erstens die Idee dass dasUnbewusste in signi kantem Ausmass um stabileinnere Objektbeziehungen zwischen abgespaltenenTeilen des Ichs in Paaren organisiert ist zweitensder Begriff dass mithilfe des Ersetzens einer ausse-ren Objektbeziehung durch eine unbewusste phanta-sierte innere Objektbeziehung psychischer Schmerzabgewehrt werden kann drittens die Idee dasspathologische Liebesbeziehungen vermischt mitHass die starksten Bindungen sind die innere Objektein einem Zustand von gegenseitigemGefangenhaltenaneinander binden viertens der Begriff dass diePsychopathologie innerer Objektbeziehungenoft denGebrauch omnipotenten Denkens in solch einemAusmass benutzt dass es den Dialog zwischen derunbewussten inneren Objektwelt und der Welt derwirklichen Erlebnisse mit wirklichen ausseren Ob-jekten abschneidet funftens die Idee dass Ambiv-alenz in Beziehungen zwischen unbewussten innerenObjekten nicht nur den Kon ict zwischen Liebe undHass einbezieht sondern auch den Kon ikt zwischendem Wunsch lebendig in seinen Objektbeziehungenbleiben zu wollen und dem Wunsch eins mit seinentoten inneren Objekten zu sein

El autor presenta una lectura de Duelo y Melanco-liacutea de Freud en la que examina no solo las ideas queeste introdujo ahiacute sino cuestion de igual importan-cia la manera en la que pensoescribio esa obra queel tiempo convertiriacutea en hito El autor demuestracomo Freud uso su exploracion del trabajo incon-sciente del duelo y la melancoliacutea para proponer yexplorar algunos de los principales preceptos de unmodelo revisado de la mente (que luego se llamariacutealsquolsquola teoria de relaciones objetalesrsquorsquo) Los principalespreceptos del modelo revisado presentado en esteescrito de 1917 incluyen (1) la idea de que elinconsciente se organiza en signi cante gradoalrededor de relaciones de objeto estables entrepartes emparejadas clivadas del ego (2) la nocion deque es posible defenderse del dolor psiacutequico pormedio del reemplazo de una relacion objetal externapor una relacion objetal interna inconsciente yfantaseada (3) la idea de que los lazos patologicos deamor mezclado con odio guran entre los viacutenculosmas fuertes y que dejan liados en mutuo cautiverio alos objetos internos (4) la nocion de que lasicopatologiacutea de las relaciones objetales internas confrecuencia involucra la utilizacion del pensamientoomnipotente a tal grado que cercena el dialogo entreel mundo objetal inconsciente interno y el mundo dela experiencia actual con objetos reales y (5) la ideade que la ambivalencia en las relaciones entre objetosinconscientes internos involvora no solo el con ictode amor y odio sino tambien el con icto entre el

780 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

deseo de seguir estando vivo en las relacionesobjetales que uno tiene y el deseo de estar unido conlos propios objetos internos muertos

Par une lecture de lsquoDeuil et melancoliersquo lrsquoauteurexamine non seulement les idees que Freud aintroduites mais egalement la direction de sa penseeet son ecriture dans cet article decisif Lrsquoauteurdemontre comment Freud utilise lrsquoexploration dutravail inconscient du deuil et de la melancolie pourproposer et explorer quelques principes majeurs drsquounmodele de lrsquoesprit revise (qui plus tard sera appelelsquotheorie de la relation drsquoobjetrsquo) Les elements princi-paux du modele revise presentes dans cet article de1917 comprennent premierement lrsquoidee que lrsquoin-conscient est organise a un degre signi catif autourde relations drsquoobjet interne stables entre des partiesdu moi couplees clivees deuxiemement lrsquoidee quele remplacement drsquoune relation drsquoobjet externe parune relation drsquoobjet interne inconsciente fantasmeepuisse etre un moyen de lutter contre la douleurpsychique troisiemement lrsquoidee que les liensdrsquoamour meles de haine pathologiques comptentparmi les liens les plus puissants qui lient les objetsinternes les uns aux autres dans une captivitemutuelle quatriemement la notion que la psycho-pathologie des relations drsquoobjet interne impliquesouvent lrsquoutilisation drsquoune pensee omnipotente aupoint que le dialogue entre le monde de lrsquoobjetinterne inconscient et le monde de lrsquoexperienceconcrete avec les objets externes reels est coupecinquiemement lrsquoidee que lrsquoambivalence dans lesrelations entre les objets internes inconscients im-plique non seulement le con it entre lrsquoamour et lahaine mais aussi le con it entre le desir de continuera etre vivant dans les relations drsquoobjet de quelqursquoun

et le desir drsquoetre aux prises avec les objets internesmorts de quelqursquoun

Lrsquoautore presenta una lettura di Lutto e melanconiadi Freud nella quale egli esamina non solo le ideeintrodotte da Freud ma anche attribuendovi grandeimportanza il modo in cui questi pensa e scrive inquesto saggio che ebbe una vera e propria funzionedi spartiacque Lrsquoautore dimostra come Freud utiliz-zasse la propria esplorazionedel lavoro inconscio dellutto e della malinconia per proporre ed esplorarealcuni dei piu importanti principi di un modellorivisto della mente (che in seguito sarebbe statode nito lsquolsquoteoria delle relazioni oggettualirsquorsquo) I piuimportanti principi del modello rivisto presentato nelsaggio del 1917 comprendono (1) lrsquoidea che lrsquoincon-scio si organizzi in misura signi cativa intorno arelazioni drsquooggetto interno stabili tra parti scissedellrsquoIo accoppiate (2) lrsquoidea che ci si possa difenderedal dolore psichico mediante la sostituzione di unarelazione drsquooggetto esterno con una relazione drsquoog-getto interno inconscia e di fantasia (3) lrsquoidea che ilegami patologici drsquoamore e odio siano tra i legamipiu forti che tengono uniti gli oggetti interni in unostato di schiavitu reciproca (4) lrsquoidea che la psicopa-tologia delle relazioni drsquooggetto interno spessoimplichi lrsquouso del pensiero onnipotente a un livellotale da interrompere il dialogo tra il mondo deglioggetti interni inconsci e il mondo dellrsquoesperienzareale con oggetti reali esterni e (5) lrsquoidea chelrsquoambiguita nei rapporti tra gli oggetti interni incon-sci implichi non soltanto il con itto di amore e odioma anche il con itto tra il desiderio di continuare aessere vivi nelle proprie relazioni drsquooggetto e ildesiderio di essere uniti ai propri oggetti internimorti

R eferences

Bion W R (1962) Learning From Experi-ence New York Basic Books

Fairbairn W R D (1944) Endopsychicstructure considered in terms of objectrelationships In Psychoanalytic Studies ofthe Personality London Routledge andKegan Paul 1981 pp 82ndash136

mdashmdash (1952) Psychoanalytic Studies of thePersonality London Routledge and KeganPaul 1981

Freud S (1900) The Interpretation ofDreams SE 4ndash5

mdashmdash (1914a) On the history of the psycho-analytic movement SE 14

mdashmdash (1914b) On narcissism an intro-duction SE 14

mdashmdash (1915a) Instincts and their vicissitudesSE 14

mdashmdash (1915b) Repression SE 14mdashmdash (1915c) The unconscious SE 14mdashmdash (1917a) Mourning and melancholia

SE 14mdashmdash (1917b) A metapsychological supple-

ment to the theory of dreams SE 14Gay P (1988) Freud A Life for our Time

New Haven CT Yale Univ PressGreen A (1983) The dead mother In

Private Madness Madison CT Int UnivPress 1980 pp 178ndash206

Klein M (1935) A contribution to thepsychogenesis of manic-depressive statesIn Contributions to Psycho-Analysis

A NEW READING OF THE ORIGINS OF OBJECT-RELATIONS THEORY 781

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN

1921ndash1945 London Hogarth Press 1968pp 282ndash310

mdashmdash (1940) Mourning and its relations tomanic-depressive states In Contributionsto Psycho-Analysis 1921ndash1945 LondonHogarth Press 1968 pp 311ndash338

mdashmdash (1952) Some theoretical conclusionsregarding the emotional life of the infantIn Envy and Gratitude and Other Works1946ndash1963 New York Delacorte 1975pp 61ndash93

Loewald H (1978) Primary process sec-ondary process and language In Papers onPsychoanalysis New Haven CT YaleUniv Press 1980 pp 178ndash206

Ogden T (1983) The concept of internalobject relations Int J Psychoanal 64181ndash198

mdashmdash (1995) Analysing forms of alivenessand deadness of the transference-

countertransference Int J Psychoanal76 695ndash709

mdashmdash (1997) Reverie and InterpretationSensing Something Human Northvale NJAronsonLondon Karnac

mdashmdash (2001a) Reading Winnicott Psycho-anal Q 70 299ndash323

mdashmdash (2001b) Conversations at the Frontierof Dreaming Northvale NJ AronsonLondon Karnac

Strachey J (1957) Papers on metapsych-ology editorrsquos introduction SE 14 pp105ndash107

Winnicott D W (1945) Primitive emo-tional development In Through Paedia-trics to Psycho-Analysis New York BasicBooks 1958 pp 145ndash56

mdashmdash (1971) The place where we live InPlaying and Reality New York BasicBooks pp 104ndash110

782 THOMAS H OGDEN