In The ‘Uncanny’ (Freud, 1919) Freud suggests that the subject of the uncanny is undoubtedly related to what is frightening - to what arouses anxiety. According to Freud the uncanny contains a special core which justifies the use of a special conceptual term. Although defined as a prototype of castration anxiety, the “repetition compulsion” had to be introduced for the metapsychology of the uncanny already before Freud's breakthrough to Beyond the pleasure principle (Freud,1920). This seeming contradiction characterises the psychic heterogeneity in the interface between Freud's drive theories which, as will be shown, is echoed by a diversity of contemporary concepts.

Anxiety is a core of the economic point of view in Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Freud 1920), whilst the uncanny goes unmentioned. From castration anxiety to nameless dread, basic perceptions and defences are organised by uncanny feelings and sensations. Due to quantitative fluctuations and vacillations in the sense of identity, patient and analyst are challenged by the uncanny. Traces of narcissistic traumas and psychic negativity as well as transgenerational introjects and exposures to an uncontrollable environment often stir uncanny feelings or sensations. Four vignettes elaborate on the uncanny as an essential part of the working through in the countertransference.