On three strands of meaning associated with the word nigger used during the course of a psychoanalytic treatment.
The author presents an overview of recent clinical/theoretical work on the construction of otherness in structured forms of hatred. He then uses clinical material to demonstrate three interwoven strands of meaning attached to the word nigger, a pejorative used frequently by a patient during the course of a psychoanalytic treatment. As used by this patient, one strand is projective and the other essentialist. The author then reflects on his own use of the pejorative in the text--a third strand of meaning he describes as depressive.
Moss
Donald B
DB
New York University Psychoanalytic Institute, New York, USA. donaldmoss@mindspring.com
D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006252:Hate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009769:Object Attachment; D011287:Prejudice; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011385:Projection; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012660:Semantics