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Our discussion will start with two brief definitions. By alienation I intend to designate states of mind resembling depersonalization, yet differing in two important points.
i.Alienation is more vague, more general and more penetrating than depersonalization. It refers not only to the feeling of the ego about the self, that is, to the way the ego experiences the self, but it encompasses the way the individual experiences the total reality of the world in which he lives, in particular the social reality, the reality of his social group, the reality of the society and the nation as a whole, or even of humanity at large. By a natural law of reciprocity, or interpenetration between the individual and the group, the term alienation can be used to describe the state of mind of a smaller or larger group of individuals.
ii.The term archaic object means a distorted archaic image of the self and/or of the original love-hate objects. A more extensive explanation will be best illustrated first by a few clinical examples.
M, a young, rather fragile girl of a delicate physical build, anticipates a date with a young man of athletic build and an expert sportsman. In her fantasy she imagines herself overtaking him in a running test; or she thinks she might overpower him like a modern Amazon. At other times and with other men she sees them as monsters who may crush her by the violence of their assault.
All these are not just fleeting fantasies; they correspond in one instance to an archaic image of the male in her mind and in the other instance they reflect her unconscious image of the self. Under certain conditions these images break through and reach consciousness. Another example: a patient in analysis has read one evening in the famous autobiography of a young American negro the description of violent assault inflicted on a woman by a group of young hoodlums. The patient's mistress comes to spend the night with him. He experiences difficulties of erection which he explains