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Daniel Dervin's stellar contribution to the fathoming of history by psychoanalysis, Enactments: American Modes and Psychohistorical Models, pivots on societal enactments—problematic encounters dramatically enmeshing
two significant antagonists over basic issues such as sexuality, aggression, and power. The fascinated audience, titillated by the suspenseful turns of the show, includes groups that have clandestinely designated the contenders to their roles in a contest laden with symbolism. Thus, Anita Hill may be seen as a delegate of the women's liberation movement whereas Clarence Thomas represents male reluctance to surrender past privileges enjoyed with women. Stemming from a widely shared area of childhood repression giving rise to a cultural norm that risks endangerment, enactments are driven by unconscious forces; the enactment performs what cannot be directly addressed by society. For instance, partly fueling the debate over gay marriage is the “in your face” boldness of gay men that threatens the early repression by heterosexuals of male-male inclinations.
In the psychoanalytic situation an enactment (the patient's transference galvanizing and engaging an often subtle, less palpable form of counter-transference), when caught by the analyst, jostles added awareness of the unconscious desires and defenses of both patient and analyst (Chused, 1991; Jacobs, 1986; Johan, 1992; McLaughlin, 1991).
Similarly, the debate and contemplation stimulated by a public enactment may enable society to plumb further the pressures roiling it. Recent illustrations of enactments are the O. J. Simpson trial and the relentless pillorying of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Among the enactments considered at length by the author are issues concerning Watergate, dissensions on committing to the Gulf War, the self-giveaways by Bush as he ran his defeatist presidential campaign, implications of the Thomas-Hill hearing, and the Palm Beach rape trial involving Senator Kennedy's nephew, William