The author presents a fragment of the history of ideas, namely, the emergence of the theme of symbolism and symbolization, which occurred at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th and was to revolutionize the whole of the human and social sciences throughout the 20th century. Two very distinct epistemological paths are identified that led three ‘founding fathers’ to this common discovery and to their specific conceptual elaborations: on the one hand, psychoanalysis with Freud, and on the other, sociology and anthropology with Durkheim and Mauss. The author sets out their unique conceptions of symbols, symbolism and symbolization. An imaginary dialogue is then developed between them that will make it possible to identify some inevitable divergences, but also some convergences.