ABSTRACT
‘Discontinuous’ or “heteromorphic” symbolisation will act like a wedge between the self and the object, creating a primitive space that later will grow with the appearance of signs and spoken language. The change from homeomorphic to heteromorphic forms of symbolisation will require alpha function in order to contain and mourn the lost object, whose absence will be then suggested by the symbol. Private symbolisations are always “constantly conjoined” and represent most of the language used by the unconscious—although not all—in order to communicate. There is a crucial difference between conscious and unconscious forms of symbolism. From a different vertex, symbolism also represents a defence against narcissistic fusion. Narcissism represents a fusion between self and the external object; when related to space it will induce projective and introjective identifications and when related to time it will induce the presence of transference.
