'The Psychology of Patriotism.'

Géza Róheim.

The American Imago, 1950, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 3–19.

There is a great deal of evidence from mythology indicating that the earth, the geographical habitat of a people, is considered as the mother. The earth can be fertilized and is creative. In infantile phantasy patriotism, or love of country, represents love of the mother made possible by the repression of the primal scene knowledge and repression of any aggression directed to the mother. Patriotism is a variety of loyalty and love for the mother transformed into the Virgin Mary. The ego of the individual patriot is based to a great extent on introjection of good things (food, milk) received from a generous mother and also on the introjection of specific characteristic foods that serve both to give him national identification and to supply him with virility and strength: for example, British roast beef, Hungarian paprika. These various national foods are important indicators of the process of introjection of parental objects, an important part of character formation as well as of patriotism. Attitudes to King and country contain all the unconscious ambivalent feelings to father and mother.