ABSTRACT
The concept of “a wrapping” and its verbal derivatives “to wrap/envelop” or “wrapping/enveloping” first appear in Freud’s writing in 1920, when he was reworking his thinking on psychical topography, psychical economy and the duality of drives. Psychical functioning depends on several factors. One factor is economic: it is concerned with the relative quantities of cathexis of the wrapping of excitation and the wrapping of meaning. Another is topographical, comparing the configuration and location of the two wrappings. The opposition/complementarity of two general categories of wrappings–that of excitation and that of meaning–underlies fundamental rule of psychoanalytic activity. It operates on basis of that opposition. The protective shield is provided by the psychoanalytic setting. The analyst’s consulting-room provides a safe space for patient against overwhelming sensations. The rule of free association too has nothing to do with excitation but produces meaningful material that can be communicated: memories, dreams, incidents from daily life, thoughts that are ambiguous, paradoxical or absurd, and also affects.
