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The concept of “the incestual” was brought out by Racamier in the 1980s. It is relatively new, and an article on the theme of narcissistic perversion by this author was only first presented in the February 2014 issue of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis (Racamier 2014). It occupies an important position in his theory since, starting from the realm of the psychoses and bonds with regard to the Oedipus complex, Racamier finally defined a specific psychic form in the psychic life of the individual, the family, and also in society. This psychic form bears the imprint of incest without this being carried out. It is a form of incest that is not phantasized or symbolized, in which the bond with the primary object has to be constantly remade and reconstructed. According to the author, behind every incestual relationship is hidden an evicted, unelaborated mourning. It encompasses a certain number of psychic phenomena that operate to bar access to the Oedipus complex: the rejection of mourning and the stopping of time, a predilection for acting out, an expansion of the unsaid and secrecy and therefore of denial, which blocks generational transmission, and a confusion of beings and generations, as well as uncompleted and interminable narcissistic seduction.
Dolan’s cinematographic work provides an excellent illustration of the clinical form of the incestual revealed through a particular type of mother–son relationship. This ambiguous, violent, passionate relationship that is damaging to both parties is omnipresent in all the director’s films. It is characterized by a mutual discord and the partners’ perpetual and vain quest to establish a mutual equilibrium. According to Racamier, this mutual equilibrium is the narcissistic unity of the earliest beginning, which is restored by the mother and child confronted with the agonizing experience of the separation of childbirth. This natural quest for unity by the mother–child couple is theorized by the author using the term “