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SYMBIOSIS is a central psychoanalytic concept: the idea that human beings experience a sense of being "at one" with the mother. The illusion of no separation.
At one time, of course, this was not an illusion. Upon birth, however, the child becomes a separate (separated) organism.
At this point, it would appear, a phantasy of oneness evolves--to ameliorate or come to terms with the trauma of separation or separateness.
Throughout life, we exist within this dialectical experience of being "at one" with objects and being separate from them (see my book Symbiosis and Separation: Towards a Psychology of Culture, and Jane Goldberg's online publication "From Symbiosis to Separation").
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Attachment to the mother transitions to attachment to objects in culture that replicate or symbolize the experience of oneness. One of the most significant symbiotic objects is one's country. People experience a sense of oneness with their own nation ("Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler").
Countries are symbolized by national flags. The photo above depicts Donald Trump "in love" with the American flag. The intimacy conveyed suggests no separation between Trump and the United States of America.
A central source of Trump's popularity, apart from policies he has put forth, has been his ability to convey this fantasy of oneness. Warmly embracing and kissing the flag, the photo suggests intimacy (a desexualized relationship).
Is Trump sincerely "in love" with America? I don't know.
Still, the photo above is one of the best I've seen conveying nationalism--not as an abstract idea, but as an embodied experience.
Richard Koenigsberg
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