ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the way couple relationships evolve and develop through recurring phases of fusion, diffusion, and de-fusion. Attraction and repulsion, fusion and de-fusion appear to emerge from the same unconscious source. As a leit-motif throughout the chapter runs an account of the marriage between Nelson and Winnie Mandela, an iconic coupling of the so-called "Mother and Father of the South African Nation". The fate of their marriage illustrates how "fusion" is fraught with difficulties. The chapter addresses the question through a psychoanalytic exploration of the couple psyche. Two individuals fuse together psychically to form a positive merger. This fusion leads to an exchange of mental contents, a process whereby psychic boundaries are loosened and become diffuse. Instead, confusion and conflict can manifest, with its inherent drive towards dissolution. These trends are explored with a view to understanding the anatomy of the couple psyche.
