Chapter 5. The Area of Creation

Until now I have discussed two possible levels, or areas, in the mind: those of the Oedipus conflict and of the basic fault. To complete the picture I have to mention, though only briefly, a third area before summing up the relevance of my ideas for the psychology of the human mind.

Whereas the area of the Oedipus conflict is characterized by the presence of at least two objects, apart from the subject, and the area of the basic fault by a very peculiar, exclusively two-person relationship, the third area is characterized by the fact that in it there is no external object present. The subject is on his own and his main concern is to produce something out of himself; this something to be produced may be an object, but is not necessarily so. I propose to call this the level or area of creation. The most often-discussed example is, of course, artistic creation, but other phenomena belong to the same group, among them mathematics and philosophy, gaining insight, understanding something or somebody; and last, but not least, two highly important phenomena: the early phases of becoming — bodily or mentally — ‘ill’ and spontaneous recovery from an ‘illness’.

Despite many attempts, very little indeed is understood of these processes. One obvious reason for this paucity of knowledge is the fact that throughout this whole area there is no external object present, and thus no transference relationship can develop. Where there is no transference, our analytic methods are powerless, and thus we are restricted to inferences from observations obtained after the individual has left the boundaries of this area. As soon as an external object appears on the scene, such as a completed work of art, a mathematical or philosophical thesis, a piece of insight or understanding which can be expressed in words, or as soon as the illness reaches the stage at which the individual can complain to someone about it, an external object is there and we can get to work with our analytic methods.