Triangularity in separation

Abstract

Traditional psychoanalytic literature tends to present issues of separation as a two-person dilemma. Current understanding, however, seems to challenge that view. The recent realization that there is no such thing as a baby, but only a mother-and-baby unit, has opened the way to the further understanding that there is no such thing as a mother-and-baby unit extra-context. In other words, there is always a father in the background – be he real or phantasized. Separation, therefore, cannot but be conceptualized as involving a triangle. It should never be forgotten that Oedipus’s own life history starts with a separation initiated by a father and acquiesced with by a mother. The aim of this paper is to present some thoughts on the Oedipal (i.e., triangular) dimension of separation.

Key words:

• separation
• triadic and dyadic relationships
• Oedipality

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the Waraie Shunga Collection, for permission to reproduce the Kitagawa Utamaro print entitled ‘Breastfeeding’, and to the YKY Press, for permission to translate the poem entitled ‘Acı Kayıp’ whose copyright they hold.

Notes

1 Translated from the original by current author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christo Joannidis

Author

Christo Joannidis is a Full Member of the British and the Hellenic Psychoanalytical Societies as well as of the Tavistock Society of Psychotherapists. He is a Training and Supervising Analyst for the Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society and at Psike-Istanbul Psychoanalytical Association. He lives in Athens, Greece.