Reflections on David Goldman's Article

The psychoanalytic literature, not unlike the universe, is constantly expanding. It is hard to avoid a sense of being overwhelmed by the multitude of offerings available to us. What to read from a sea of papers, books, and internet offerings remains a puzzle. Personally, I am looking for the impact of an experience that the author wishes to convey, and the thoughts and reflections that emerge upon impact and their reverberations over time. Dr. Goldman's article (pp. 188-212), whose earlier version I had the privilege to read is one such text. In fact I was surprised by its ongoing impact and the reflexions it stimulated. Of course the topic itself has something to do with it. I was in analysis with Scott between 1980 and 1987. I am glad to share some of the thoughts that were stimulated by Dr. Goldman's article.

I suspect that Scott had in mind a narrative of early development that was only alluded to and a narrative of a sequence of events that might require further thinking. Behind it all I seem to detect his ongoing attempt to develop his notion of primary narcissism. For me one stylistic characteristic of Scott's writing is his attempt to talk about everything at the same time. He was forever mourning the language of the baby, its motoric expression, its musical vocalization, its sensoriality, and its infinite expanse. We are slowly coming back to the importance of what is left of the silent baby, the body. Goldberg (2018), referring to a developing trend, has suggested that the body has a mind of its own, separate from what we usually refer to as a mind. Scott presents us with a constant reminder in a secondary form of the ongoing presence of what is primary, even though structuralization has occurred, which has introduced spatial organization in its wake. I am wondering how Scott's “primitive spatial and temporal characteristics” could be described. As best he could, he confronted