The Enigma of Desire: Salvador Dal and

the conquest of the irrational

by Zoltn Kovry
1une 29, 2009

abstract
The life-work of Salvador Dal is a great challenge for the psychology of art from a
psychoanalytic point of view. According to my theory, the inner experiences that were
expressed and concealed in his works were formed by family secrets and related morning
process. ! try to approach this hypothesis sing the "crypt# theory of hngarian-french
psychoanalysts $ikl%s &brah'm and $'ria T(r(k. ! also aim at associating Dal)s certain
typical animal motifs, sch as the maned lion)s head, the crabs and the *praying+ mantis with
a niversal symbol, the so called ,vagina dentata#. The symbol of aggressive female sexality
and predatory motherhood represents the emergence of feelings and anxiety related to the
castration complex and to the related niversal topics of birth, death, sexality and
individation, and its appearance in Dal)s work reflects dramatic conflict solving
mechanisms as the possible artistic elaborations of this developmental crisis.
article
!ntrodction
The life-work of Salvador Dal is a great challenge for the psychology of art from a
psychoanalytic point of view. -omplex interactions can be detected among the life events of
the painter, the psychopathological aspects of his extravagant personality and the
characteristic system of symbols present on his srrealistic paintings. The sitation is frther
complicated by the great artist)s intimate relationship with the contemporary psychoanalytic
theory and his inclination to self disclosre that was often characteri.ed by exhibitionist
exaggerations. According to my theory, the inner experiences that were expressed and
concealed in his works were formed by family secrets and the related morning process. This
hypothesis shall be hereinafter approached from a psychological point of view sing the
,crypt theory# of $ikl%s &brah'm and $'ria T(r(k. ! also aim at associating Dal)s certain
typical animal motifs, sch as the maned lion)s head, the crabs and the *praying+ mantis with
a niversal symbol, the so called ,vagina dentata#. The toothed female genitalia, as the
symbol of aggressive female sexality and the incorporating mother represents the emergence
of feelings and anxiety related to the and to the related niversal topics of birth, death,
sexality and individation, both on individal *dreams, fantasies, works of art+ and collective
*myths, initiation rites+ levels, and their appearance in Dal)s work reflects dramatic conflict
solving mechanisms. /hile analy.ing the vagina dentata)s role in Dal)s oevre, ! shall also
investigate the painter)s complex relationship with women and his own sexality and present
the possible artistic elaborations of this developmental crisis.
1. 1he "psychopathologic iconography"
Salvador Dal, or ,the 0enaissance man converted to psychoanalysis# as was called by Sarane
Alexandrian *$addox, 1223+ said the following abot the possible interpretations of his
works4#To describe my pictres in everyday langage, to explain them, it is necessary to
sbmit them to special analyses, and preferably with the most ambitiosly ob5ective scientific
rigor possible.# *as 6oted by $addox, op. cit. 78.+. Dal spposed that srrealistic art and
science *more exactly psychoanalysis+ are together capable of con6ering the nconscios,
the ,irrational#. Sigmnd 9red, his idol of yoth, did not entirely share the ardent optimism
of Dal and his contemporaries4 he considered 2:; of srrealists insane, althogh his meeting
with Dal in 12<= convinced the aged master to a certain extent *>%kay and ?s., 122@+. The
?ngarian $ih'ly >'lint was also skeptic abot the perspectives of psychoanalytical
interpretation of artistic creation. According to >'lint, from the three areas of the sol
*Aedips conflict, basic falt and creation+ only the first two can be approached
psychoanalytically, while we can only speclate abot the psychological backgrond of
creation *>'lint, 1228+. ?owever, both Aedips conflict and creation evolve from more
archaic levels, hence the process of creation can be considered as a compensatory mechanism,
which is driven by primary love and its cessation4 basic falt. !n the words of Dal4 'The
enigma of desire. mv mother, mv mother, mv mother...`.
The history of DalBs family is afflicted by pecliar secrets. The ancestors lived in northern
-atalonia, a region where the constantly blowing, icy wind, the Tramontana was considered
responsible for the weird or frios behavior of certain people living in that area, as well as
for the homicides or sicides committed in the region. Since Dal)s grandfather was
spposedly terrified by the potential inflence of the Tramontana, he moved with his family to
>arcelona. Ane day, after the loss of a significant amont of money on the stock-market, his
paranoia enhanced and he started shoting from the window of his balcony that thieves had
wanted to steal his money and to take his life. Sicide cold be prevented on that day, bt
nfortnately he scceeded three days later. The family was ashamed of the act and tried to
keep it in secret along with the sicidal attempt of one of Dal)s ncles. Salvador was afraid
from the hereditability of this family disease and therefore he was trying to convince everyone
abot his sanity throghot his life *Cibson, 1228+.
After birth, the painter was named after his dead brother *similarly to Dan Cogh, ?al's.,
3EE3+, which he considered later as his parents) ,nconscios crime#. !n his memoirs Dal
recollects the moment of reali.ation as follows4 F9or the fist time in my life, ! was shocked to
recogni.e the absolte trth abot myself. A psychoanalytical stdy helped me to nderstand
the tragic basis of the strctre of my personality. The matter at isse is that my dead brother,
lies deep within my sol, and he was loved so mch by my parents that ! was even named
after him4 Salvador. This terrific shock was like an enlightenment. !t explains why ! felt fear
on every occasion when ! entered my parentsB room and saw the pictre of my dead brother
covered with fine lace. ?is beaty indced the extremely opposite reaction of me visali.ing
this ideal brother in the state of a final decay dring the whole night while ! was lying in my
bed. ! cold only fall asleep if ! was thinking abot my own death. ! felt as if ! were lying in a
coffin and only then cold ! finally calm downF *as 6oted by Cibson, op. cit. 821.+. /e shall
later refer to the characteristic motives cited above.
9elpa, Dal)s mother was an extremely indlgent woman, who lived for her family. Althogh
she gave birth to a girl later, spposedly she was already longing for a girl before the birth of
the second Salvador4 she treated the yong Salvador as a girl, and dressed him in girlish
clothes *later Dal even painted a portrait of himself as a yong boy wearing sch clothes+.
The painter)s affection for androgynos people probably originated from the sexal
ncertainties arising from sch childhood experiences. According to a contemporary , $. G.
0odrige., his later wife, Cala also represented the ,archetypal androgyny# to the painter
*0odrige., 3EEE+. !n 0odrige.)s opinion, these childhood experiences were also the sorces
of DalBs identity distrbances, sexal problems, childhood enresis and the anger towards his
mother as expressed later on the painting entitled FThe Sacred ?eartF *according to several
psychoanalytic athors *e.g. H. Iacobson+, aggression plays an important role in the process of
inner differentiation from the Ab5ect *see4 $itchell and >lack, 3EEE++. Aggression is related to
the painting, as it became later infamosly famos with the title 'Sometimes I Spit with
Pleasure on the Portrait of mv Mother`, and contribted to the conflict between Dal and his
father in 1232. -ontrary to other family members, Dal never captred his beloved mother
again in his artworkJ in the opinion of 0odrige., the above mentioned painting of 1232, 'The
enigma of desire. mv mother, mv mother, mv mother...` was actally inspired by his ftre
wife Cala. >y this time, 9elpa was already dead4 she died in 1231 from cancer of the ters.
Kater in his life, the painter tried to express the nspeakable feelings generated by this deep
trama by means of the exhibitionism so typical of him and by sing the archaic symbols of
dreams. !n the book of >arbara -reed entitled 'The monstrous feminine` there is a photo of
him posing behind a woman)s hip with a crab lying in the lap *ters+ *-reed, 122<+. !t
reminds one of the famos words of ?ngarian novelist, Larinthy4 ,! cannot tell it to anyone,
so !)m telling it to everyone...#.
The father, Salvador Senior, who worked as a notary, was a highly respected man with an
athoritarian personality4 Dal feared him all of his life and dared to oppose him only after
Cala) appearance in 1232. The father made a heavy impression on the child Dal as once he
explained his late arrival home saying ,! shit myself#. Dal fond hmiliating the fact that his
fearflly admired father rather made a ,Creek tragedy# of that embarrassing sitation than
sneaking in the hose. ?e claimed that this case completely changed his personality and was
the trning-point in his life. ?is father)s shameless pblic confession of the disgracefl reason
of his late arrival was a real trama for the already clmsy and shy child, who on the other
hand cold still not get rid of his faecal obsessions *Cibson op. cit.+. Dal later immortali.ed
the incident on the painting entitled 'The Lugubrious Game` and this work is considered as
his first trly srrealist one, the ,psychopathologic iconography# of which seriosly worried
AndrM >reton and the other srrealists *$addox, op. cit.+.
Salvador Inior was born nine months after his brother)s death and became a spoilt, obstinate
child. ?is parents felt gilty of the death of the elder son and according to certain biographers
*e.g. Cibson+, they always treated the yonger Salvador as if he was the dead brother. Dal
grew p in a pathologically overprotected environment and was allowed to do whatever he
wanted to. Dring his later life Dal even expected his family and friends to behave the same
way towards him as his parents did. /henever he was denied something, he brst into a
violent rampage and left his faeces everywhere behindJ he sffered from enresis even at the
age of eight *according to classical psychoanalysis, this rethral-erotic hyperfnction was the
sorce of Dal)s exaggerated ambition, which later became one of the central characteristic
featres of the painter)s personality+. !n school, Dal behaved in an introverted manner and
sffered from erythrophobia *a fear from flshing and feeing ashamed+. ?is mantis phobia,
the signs of which can be detected on his several paintings later, also developed dring this
period. $oreover, he often behaved in a bi.arre and violent way4 he pshed a boy over a
bridge on to the rocks, 5mped off the stairs on prpose or bit into a bat carcass fll of ants
*$addox, op. cit.+.
?is theatrical and exhibitionist behavior and his sexal anxiety developed in pberty. Ane of
Dal)s ma5or fears was related to mastrbation4 at that time, medicine considered it to case
impotence, homosexality or insanity. As for Dal, mastrbation was almost the exclsive
sorce of sexal pleasres throghot his life, nevertheless he was the first and still is the only
artist with an artwork in which mastrbation played an important part *Apparatus and Hand,
123@, The Great Masturbator, 1232+. >esides his mastrbation-related fears, sexal defeatism
was also typical of the yong Dal4 he fond his penis small and limp compared to that of the
others) *Cibson, op. cit.+. The impotence related anxiety might have been symbolically
expressed in his paintings by the crtches spporting ob5ects and body parts that are not able
to stand by themselves. Doyerism also played an important role in his life4 he described
penetrating voyer experiences even from his childhood and he cold never get rid of this
inclination *for instance, he entitled one of his early paintings ,Joveur#+. Kater he was keen to
organi.e orgies with the exclsive participation of women with small breasts and men having
feminine lines, since N as mentioned above - he was strongly attracted by androgyny and only
fond people of this type perfect. ?is sexal orientation was a mystery even for his
contemporaries. Ko.ano was absoltely sre abot Dal)s homosexality, althogh it was
crystal clear that Dal wold not admit it to anyone, nor in the least wold have he acted like a
homosexal person. ?owever, there is no dobt abot that he preferred male bodies to female
ones.# *Cibson, op. cit.+. The poet 9ederico Carcia Korca tried to sedce Dal and to have a
sexal intercorse with him twice, bt Dal denied everything *Cibson, op. cit.+. Allegedly,
when Korca came home from America and heard that Dal had fond the woman of his life,
he was shocked becase he was convinced that the painter had erection only with a finger in
his ans *Cen.mer, 3EEE+.
Dal met Cala in 1232, a 1E-year-older woman, who was still the wife of Gal Hlard at the
time. According to the literatre, the cople had a rather pervert married life4 they liked
watching the other having sex with a third person. The love between Cala and Dal pt an end
to the almost incestos relationship between Dal and his yonger sister and completely got
the already eccentric yong man ot of his mind *$addox, op. cit.+. The woman became
Dal)s mse in whom he saw the ancestral androgyne and regarded her as the nion of all
things. ?is passion was close to insanity4 for instance once he felt a really strong temptation to
psh her down over a rock. /hen asking what to do, the woman replied that she wanted him
to do so *Cen.mer, op. cit.+. Allegedly, they made love only once and afterwards the painter
preferred mastrbation over having sex with his wife. Dal claimed that he was terrified of all
sexal intercorses becase in his childhood his father ,accidently# left a medical book abot
venereal diseases and their clinical symptoms on the piano, as a reslt of which Dal lost his
interest in all traditional forms of sexal relationships and developed a syphilis phobia
*Cibson, op. cit.+. !n the book entitled ,The Tragic Mvth of Millets Angelus# Dal wrote that
the fear of sexal relationships infiltrated his whole life and that he typified sexal acts with
the most extreme bestiality, violence and wildness ntil he fond himself totally incapable of
performing them. This impotence occrred not only becase of his possible physical
inabilities, bt also for he feared the annihilating power of the sexal relationship and becase
he had the obsession that its conse6ences cased instantaneos death *Dal, 12=7, @8.+.
2. Inhabitants of the crypt
The parallel existence of total straightforwardness and complete sppression was one of the
characteristic featres of Dal)s personality. Symbols of exhibitionistic self-disclosre and
depth psychological self-analysis in his paintings *e.g. in Angelus+ are examples for the
former, while nmorned losses *his brother and mother+ and nrevealed secrets *insanity and
sicide in his family, sexal ambivalence+ spport the presence of the latter. According to
?ngarian psychoanalyst !mre ?ermann, secrets ,strive for being kept and revealed at the
same time... indeed, people with secrets constantly feel the pressre of disclosre.
Onsccessfl cases might case a nerotic character.F *?ermann,122:, :7-:@.+. According to
$ikl%s &brah'm and $'ria T(r(k, these psychological phenomena that are often secondary
to Fhidden morning and secret loveF are called ,crypts#. ?ermann was concerned abot the
healing effect of nrevealing the secret, bt &brah'm and T(r(k were not so confident abot
the beneficial conse6ences of sch verbal absoltion. The nspeakable natre of the secret
and its destrctive inflence on the Self cases ,incorporation# and ,preservative repression#
of the experience, and hence forms a crypt, an intrapsychic tomb in the nconscios
*&brah'm and T(r(k, 122=+. As this crypt is the prodct of a ,preservative repression# and
not the 9redian ,dynamic repression#, it does not manifest itself symbolically *e.g. 9redian
slips+ or physically *e.g. clinical symptoms+, and only dreams and fantasies of fnerals, tombs
and corpses refer to its existence. These visal manifestations dominated DalBs imagination
since his childhood. ?e cold only fall asleep if he was thinking abot his death. Then, he felt
as if he was lying in a coffin and only then cold he finally calm down. $otifs of decay sch
as bstling ants, which represent the content of his fantasies, can often be detected on his
paintings. The bat carcass that the yong Dal bit into was also covered with ants *$addox,
op. cit.+.
The works of Dal can be literally considered as ato-bio-graphies4 in his visal *and
sometimes verbal+ artistic expressions he reglarly sed the contents of his dreams and
hallcinations - a process he called the paranoid-critical method *,critical and systematic
ob5ectivation of delirios associations and interpretations#, $addox op. cit. 8@.+. Several
allsions to Dal)s pecliar inner world can be detected on the paintings of his srrealistic
period, the 123Es and 12<Es, the accepted interpretations of which are well known *e.g.
$addox op. cit., 0odrige. op. cit.+. ?owever, with the adaptation of &brah'mBs and T(r(kBs
theory of Fhidden morning and secret loveF, Dal)s biographical events and the artistic
symbols of his paintings might gain new interpretation.
According to &brah'm and T(r(k, when morning reaches the stage of being impossible to
express verbally, the process of intro5ection, which beneficially affects the organi.ation of the
Self, is being replaced by the incorporation of the lost Ab5ect. !n the model of Stavros
$ent.os, incorporation corresponds to a more primitive form of internali.ation than
intro5ection and identification, and it typically occrs when the differentiation of the Self and
the Ab5ect is disrpted early, or in the case of regression *$ent.os, no year indicated+. This
mechanism corresponds to the replacement of the Self with the Ather, the development of
which is particlarly trivial in Dal)s case, since in his tramatic experience, the nmorned,
dead Ather and the Self have a common symbolic denotation4 Salvador, which refers to Iess
-hrist as well *catholic motifs commonly appear on the paintings of his the late period,
commonly considered as retrograde+. Dal claimed that this pain in the inner silence and the
transposition of the nbearable reality remained in the nconscios ntil he read that
particlar psychoanalytic stdy. Onfortnately, we do not know, which stdy it was, nor are
we sre abot the years of that event. According to K's.l% ?al's., Dal started reading
psychoanalytic literatre at the age of 1=, in 1233. *?al's., 3EE3+. Dal)s mother died of
womb cancer one year earlier, in 1231, which probably have increased the artist)s interest
towards psychoanalysis.
The mentioned sameness of these symbolic denotations P are related to the blrred
bondaries of the Self and the Ab5ect. An one hand, FSalvadorF was the beatifl older
brother, the ob5ect of his parents) desires and feelings, bt at the same time, ,Salvador#
himself was the dead Salvador)s sbstitte. According to certain contemporary self-
developmental models, serios pathological processes can develop if the core of the Self is
composed of the representation of the Ather *Target, 122=+. The biographies, confessions and
memoirs of Dal confirm that the artist sffered from diverse and complex psychopathological
symptoms, sch as circmscribed phobias, affective disorders, sexal problems, narcissistic
symptoms, disorders of the Self or even bi.arre behaviors and hallcinations that are
considered as prodromal psychotic signs *$addox op. cit., Cibson op. cit.+. These symptoms
can not only be attribted to Dal)s family backgrond and to the special edcational manner
of the mother, as emphasi.ed by 0odrige., bt in my opinion, the above mentioned
tramatic, nsolved losses cold also contribte to their development. According to the
interpretation of &brah'm and T(r(k, the ,morning disease# can nconsciosly inflence
several psychopathological syndromes, inclding affective psychosis, fetishism, anorexia,
pedophilia, sexal apathy, implsive behavior, kleptomania or varios psychosomatic
symptoms *&brah'm and T(r(k, op. cit.+.
&brah'm and T(r(k proposes, that Fsecret loveF that one feels for the nmorned ob5ect can
reach extreme heights if it is felt toward a parent, brother or sister, and in Dal)s life both a
love towards his mother and his brother existed. The strong relation between love and death
can be detected in Dal) personality4 both in his primary ob5ect-relations *dead mother+ and in
his narcissistic development *shared Self with the dead Salvador+. De to its nacceptable
natre, the desire towards the dead brother remained nflfilled, and therefore it became an
intrapsychic secret, impossible to express verbally. !t was only in 127:, when Dal painted a
pictre of his brother *,Portrait to Mv Dead Brother#+, while his mother only appeared on the
ominos ,The Sacred ?eart# painting and on the photograph in the book of >arbara -reed. !t
appears now, as if both the brother and the mother wold have been imprisoned in the
intrapsychic tomb. The incorporation of the lost Ab5ect is a defense mechanism, which
protects the person from the pain that is cased by the inner reorgani.ation dring morning.
!ncorporation, as reflected by the fantasy of eating the *dead+ Ather can be detected is DalBs
life *he bit into the dead bat that he fond as a child+ and is also present in his works, for
example in the painting ,Autumn Cannibalism#. 9ood and cooking were one of Dal)s
obsessions. ,-ooking is very close to painting# he claimed *$addox op. cit. :8.+. The literal
incorporation that is probably related to oral voraciosness emphasi.ed by $elanie Llein,
sbstittes the other oral act, the ,intro5ective# speech, since the latter cannot fill the moth
de to its prohibition to be verbally expressed. Ths, the moth incapable of speech *the act
that according to ?ermann symbolically replaces attachment+ becomes ,the eager moth,
which longs for eating, before it speaks# *&brah'm Ms T(r(k, op. cit. 1<:.+. !ncreased oral
tendencies may occr not only dring the process of internali.ation, bt also dring
externali.ation, which occrs at the same time *see $ent.os, op. cit.+. Cosch, a contemporary
of Dal said abot the nstoppable verbali.ation of the painter, that Dal)s argments were
nchallengeable as his intelligence was special and ndefeatable *Cibson, op. cit. 182.+. The
verbal destrction of the Ather is a sblimated expression of oral aggression and it is related
to early envy also emphasi.e by Llein. Aral aggression as being the sb5ect to pro5ective
defence may generate paranoid anxiety against which the fragile and vlnerable Self can be
protected by a narcissisistic personality strctre *Lernberg, 122<+. Dal)s paranoidity and
narcissistic grandiosity are well known as well as the *even more important+ fact that he cold
create an otstanding art ot of these psychic symptoms *,Art is me#+. This sb5ect, i.e. the
premiere of the painting entitled ,Metamorphosis of Narcissus# even served as the reason for
the meeting between Dal and 9red mediated by Stefan Qweig *>%kay Ms ?s., 122@+.
As a reslt of the related nspeakable shame, secrets and hmiliation, the incorporated and
ideali.ed Ab5ect of love may become devalated and disgsting. &brah'm and T(r(k called
this process ,faecali.ation#J which may be connected to the final rotting in the citation from
Dal and to his faecal obsessions. !n Dal)s early, emotionally driven fantasies different forms
of death and destrction relating to the Ab5ects of love appear. Their appearance may reflect
the failre of ab5ection, which N according to Lirsteva N is considered to play an important
role in the formation of the Sb5ect *G'lmai, no year indicated+. The paradox ob5ect or the
ab5ect is attractive and replsive at the same time, since it incorporates the contradiction of the
normative Ab5ect of the Sb5ect. According to the docments of Dali)s oevre, this ab5ect has
a ma5or role in the painter)s strctre of desire and Self-organisation. Dring common Self-
development, phenomena sch as signs of aging and death, visions of a disintegrating corpse,
pregenital organisation, atoerotism evoked by regression and love trning into
homosexality are separated from the forming identity by the act of ab5ection, and they
remain particlarly important for Dal for a long period of time.
Ontold secrets have transgenerational impacts as well, the psychological aspects of which are
marked by the term ,phantom# by &brah'm and T(r(k. !n Dal)s family many sch secrets
existed4 the death of the elder brother and the insanity and sicide attempts of the ancestors.
These insane or death relatives *grandfather, ncle, older brother+, who were prohibited to talk
abot, may have become the inhabitants and phantoms of Dal)s internal crypt. Gresmably,
the mother, whose dead was too early, tragic and nmorned, 5oined the company of the
,crypt inhabitants#. !n the 123Es, the most progressive phase of his career, Dal did not often
mention his emotions towards his mother, not even sing the langage of his art and even
when he did so, it manifested in an aggression that was hard to nderstand N ,Sometimes I
Spit with Pleasure on the Portrait of mv Mother# *in Angels, he already mentioned his fearsJ
however, he started to write the book mch later, only at the end of the 12<Es+. According to
the crypt theory, *for melancholic people+ pre idyll that is free from aggression is the most
valable treasre and it mst be ,bried in a crypt constrcted of the stones of hate and
aggression# *&brah'm Ms T(r(k, op. cit. 18<.+. !t is well-known that Dal was attracted to
perversity and aggression4 ,9rom early childhood he was abnormally imaginative, selfishly
preoccpied with his own pleasres, cynically parading his adacity and his perverse
violence.# *$addox, op. cit. @.+. As long as the walls of the crypt that were constrcted of
aggression stand, painfl melancholy, which is the sign of incomplete morning, does not
develop. Dal)s well known hypomanic manifestations *characteri.ed by elevated affect,
constant logorrhoea, grandiosity, implsivity and eccentric otward appearance+ might also
represent the fight against depression and anxiety. !t is a well docmented phenomenon of the
ob5ect-relations theory and a therapetic experience as well that manic defence may prevent
the collapse cased by depression *Segal, 122@+.
Revertheless, aggression and the related gilty conscience and depressive anxiety being
generated by the crisis cased by losses and *nexpressed+ morning altogether may become a
ma5or inspirational sorce of creative processes. According to Cy(rgy Dik'r, ,/e can assme
that every crisis indces nconscios fantasies that act as reparatory mechanisms for the Self.
!t depends on the reslt of the internal fight whether these fantasies become conscios and
whether they become the scientific or artistic prodct that is compatible with the reality of a
creative personality. !t is certain that an optimal level of the defence mechanisms of the Self is
re6ired to render the psychical pain and the destrctivity of the original fantasy bearable for
the personality...# *Dik'r, 3EE7, <3<.+. Osing the terms of $elanie Llein - morning,
destrctive fantasies, gilt, need for reparation N AndrM ?aynal mentions the same, sggesting
that tombs, which are the very first artworks of the hmankind are also the prodcts of the
mixtre of destrctive and creative processes *as 6oted by Dik'r, op. cit.+. An the gronds of
the investigation of *artistic+ creative processes, many athors, who approached this sb5ect
from different aspects came to the same conclsion, namely that destrction and creation are
interconnected phenomena *e.g. Loestler, 12@<, Spielrein 6oted by Htkind, 1222, 9romm,
3EE1+J and in an optimal case, destrctive implse is combined with talent and serves the
process of creation.
3. Jagina dentata
?is falling in love with Cala may also have encoraged Dal to cope with the crisis. >t
besides the flfilment of desires, the appearance of the woman made the #monsters of the
nderworld# and anxieties materiali.e as well. !n these monsters eroticism and death are
closely intertwined. !n Angelus Dal writes that he was afraid of the destroying power of the
sexal act and therefore it became his obsession that its conse6ences cased instantaneos
death. This fear overcame him again at the beginning of his relationship with *Dal, op. cit.+.
Dal)s confession cold even be compared to the interpretations of psychoanalytic case
stdies at the point where he admits that Cala in reality took the place of his mother to whom
he owed the terror of the sexal act and the belief that it wold fatally bring abot his total
annihilation. $oreover, the speclates that his fear of sex emerges from #a decisive tramatic
incident of exceptional savagery that happened in my earliest childhood and was directly
related to the Aedips complex. !n this particlar case it is a 6estion of a recollection or a
Sfalse recollection) of my mother scking or devoring my penis.# *Dal, op.cit. =3.+ /e know
that according to 9erenc.i *122@+ the coits, feared so mch by Dal, is a symbolic form of
retrning to the mother)s womb becase in the genital drives of the adlt the most ancient
desire, the retrn to this state *from which with birth he was expelled+ is reborn *9erenc.i,
12=3.+. !n Dal)s case it was his mother)s illness, why the desired maternal body, the womb
was associated with cancer, the castrating creatre, the annihilating disease. *Sexality and
illness N as we have already seen above N were closely interconnected in his imagination
when he was a child.+ To con6er this ambivalence, Dal resorted to atoeroticism throghot
all his life, dring which the hands and his own body were capable of representing and
sbstitting the dal nion of the mother and the child *?ermann, 12=8+. !n dreams and
myths, this type of intertwining between desires and anxieties is often expressed by the
different forms of vagina dentata, the archaic notion of the toothed vagina. */e can see nice
examples of vagina dentata representations in 9ellini)s Casanova. After a narcissistic crisis,
followed by an nsccessfl sicide attempt, -asanova wanders into a dreamlike scene, enters
a bilding that looks like a whale and here ncanny figres are pro5ected on the walls with a
rdimentary pro5ector.+ Onder the photo of Dal in >arbara -reed)s book we can read the
following caption4 ,Salvador Dal keeps a wary eye on his version of the dentata# *-reed,
op.cit.+.
9ear started to dominate the painter) life in 1232, after his meeting with his mother)s
sbstitte, Cala. At that time the 1E-year-older woman N as we have already referred to it NP
was still the wife of Gal Hlard and the evolving relationship, together with Dal)s
controversial painting the ,Sacred Heart#, led to a confrontation between Dal and his feared
father. The nsal psychological complexity of this sitation *Dal N dead mother N father,
Dal N father N Cala, Dal N Cala N Hlard+ might have had a significant effect not only on the
painter)s presmed crisis bt also on his artistic activity. 1232 was a significant year in
Salvador Dal)s life from an artistic point of view as well. This was the year when his first
exhibition in Garis was opened, the sccess of which made him very soon the leading figre
among the Srrealists. Together with his friend, Kis >nel, they shot their famos
srrealistic film Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog), while several of his masterpieces
were also painted in this year4 The Lugubrious Game, The Enigma of Desire, The Great
Masturbator, Illumined Pleasures, The First Davs of Spring, Sacred Heart, Unsatisfied
Desires and last bt not least The Accommodations of Desire. !t is striking that in all the
paintings made in this period we can find the motifs of the lion or the roaring, maned lion)s
head. An this sb5ect 0odrige. says the following when talking abot Unsatisfied Desires4
Onsatisfied desires was the first painting inspired by his desire for her Ti.e. Cala N Q. L.U. !n
this canvas appear mixed desires, fears and sexal phobias, represented by lion 5aws Dal)s
fears of sexal enconter with a woman.#*0odrige., op.cit. 8E.+. ! wold like to add to this
legitimate statement that the lion)s head is probably the indirect representation of the vagina
dentata as a niversal symbol4 the mane may stand for the pbic hair and the open moth
cold be the toothed vaginal orifice. !t may seem contradictory that we can see male lions in
the paintings still we are talking abot a female symbolJ bt on the one hand, with Dal the
mascline and the feminine were never completely separated *see the 6estion of androgyny+,
and on the other hand, the vagina dentata refers to the #phallic#, aggressive aspects of
femininity. !n the painting The Accommodations of Desire, in the top right hand corner there
is a white stone on which we can see a female lower body and in its lap there is a white patch
that forms the silhoette of a mane, with a lion)s open moth in the centre. This symbol
perfectly illstrates Dal)s controversial relationship with women and femininity, thinking of
either his mother or his wife Cala. The ambivalent female lap N according to a ?ngarian
writer, $enyhMrt Kakatos4 ,the big, greedy beast# *Kakatos, 12@:+P N is the ob5ect of desire,
bt at the same time also the sorce of the deepest anxiety. This is the place where Hros and
Thanatos meet.
The vagina dentata is a niversal symbol fre6ently occrring in the religions and myths of
the world *?opp'l, Iankovics, Ragy, S.emad'm, 1228+. This symbol of aggressive female
sexality and devoring maternity expresses feelings and anxieties related to the castration
complex, and in a broader sense to the intertwining and niversal 6estions of sexality, birth
and death, both on a personal *dreams, fantasies, works of art+ and collective *myths,
initiation rites+ level. According to the entry in International dictionarv of psvchoanalvsis
*$i5olla, 3EE:+ the phenomenon originates from the infantile sexal theories which presme
the e6ation of the moth and the vagina. Depending on the assmed nderlying
psychodynamic events, different psychoanalytic approaches attribte diverse meanings to the
P fantasies of fear of the mother, women and castration. Ths their appearance may be
indced by, among other things4
1. the pro5ection of oral-sadistic drives
3. the fear of pnishment for a desire for fsion with the mother, which is an incestos
bond
<. anxiety cased by a desire for coits as an intraterine regression *after 9erenc.i+
8. a sadistic interpretation of the coits, the primal scene
:. the fantasy of incorporation dring coits *$elanie Llein+
7. the fear of vengeance becase of the womanVmother)s own castratedness *0enM de
$ondry+
@. bt it can also represent the persectory Ab5ect *?anna Segal+
=. while being devored by the genitalia cold also represent bisexal desires.
Thogh 9red refers to the nconscios association of the female genitalia with the moth in
one of his lectres in Introduction to psvchoanalvsis *9red, 122<+, >arbara -reed finds it
strange that the vagina dentata is never mentioned in 9redBs writings. !n his work, The
Uncannv, pblished in 1212, the Diennese master nevertheless mentions that the sight of the
female genitalia might generate a special kind of anxiety in nerotic men. !n this case, the
,ncanny# feeling is explained both by the castration anxiety, a significant element of the
repressed Aedips complex *becase of the sight of the lack of the penis+J and by so called
mother womb fantasies. According to 9red ,!t often happens that nerotic men declare that
they feel there is something ncanny abot the female genital organs. This ncanny
*,nheimlich,+ place, however, is the entrance to the former home *,?eim,+ of all hman
beings, to the place where each one of s lived once pon a time and in the beginning. There
is a 5oking saying that BKove is homesicknessB *,Kiebe ist ?eimweh., *9red, 122=, @7-@@.+.
Ths both the castration complex and the womb fantasy *,!)ve been here before#+ become the
sorce of the #ncanny# independently, thogh the last sentence of the 6otation above seems
to hint implicitly at what 9erenc.i develops later into a complex theory *9erenc.i, 122@+.
According to >arbara -reed, the father of psychoanalysis did not arrive, for one reason or
another, at the conclsion that The Accommodations of Desire, the body of the mother where
we all long nconsciosly to retrn to, says 9erenc.i, also generates fear of castration and
annihilation anxieties in the Sb5ect. ?owever, according to later theories *see -hodorow,
3EEE+ it does not necessarily develop becase the sight of the lack of the penis reminds the
Sb5ect of the possible paternal pnishment for the forbidden incestos desire. 9red, who
always thoght of women as the castrated ones and never as the castrators, did not take into
consideration those mythologies and works of art *as well as dream and fantasy formations+
that nambigosly attest the existence of this phenomena. According to -reed4 ,The myth
abot women as castrators clearly points to male fears and phantasies abot the female
genitals as a trap, a black hole which threatens to swallow them p and ct them into pieces.
The vagina dentata is moth of hell N a terryfying symbol of women as the devil)s gateway...
The vagina dentata also points to the dplicitos natre of women, who promise paradise in
order to ensnare her victims.#*-reed, 122<. 1E7.+. /e can find the already mentioned
photography of Dal and the womb with the crab in the annex of -reedBs book. The
significance of the dreamlike image is overdetermined in the 9redian sense4 on the basis of
what has 5st been said it refers not only to the death of the mother and to the nspeakable
morning bt also to the fear of women as castrators and to the strange story of DalBs virility
*W+.
/hen talking abot the great -atalonian painter, apart from the lionBs head and the crab, a
third animal motif can be linked to the vagina dentata, to the exciting theme of the ,aggressive
female sexality and the devoring maternity#. The mantis, specially the female praying
mantis that devors her male conterpart dring the coplation represents the Lleinien
concept of incorporation dring the coits fantasy. DalBs related ideas are flly developed in
his already mentioned The tragic mvth of Millets Angelus. /hile examining the cople of
$illetBs ,maddening# work Dal reali.ed that the womanBs stance perfectly corresponds to the
female praying mantisB waiting attitde and the insect perfectly illstrates the tragic myth
residing in $illetBs Angels. This myth is nothing else bt what is felt like a manBs *in or
case DalBs+ inevitable fate, the annihilation by the motherly, female castrator dring sexal
intercorse. Dal believed that he wold sffer dring a sexal intercorse the same way as a
male praying mantis *Dal, op.cit.+. The image of the praying mantis implies the intertwining
of eroticism and death, the theme of oral aggression, incorporation and cannibalism. As a
looser association Dali mentioned that the mantisB stance cold be compared to a kangaroo
that was ready to attack and also that the symbol aided the emergence of mother-related
fantasies, as the pictre of this animal resembleed special and psetting intra-terine
conditions *Dal, op.cit.+. At the same time, the image of the praying mantis leads to the circle
of ideas related to the sacrm, hence becoming the bearer of what is called in Ceorge
>atailleBs Hrotism the inseparable nity of erotism, death and the sacred *>ataille, 3EEE+.
4. Erotism, death and the sacred: a journey into the underworld
$ircea Hliade, the genis of comparative religion, while analy.ing the symbolism of
castration and the vagina dentata, via the motif of initiation, refers to important sacred
elements as well *Hliade, 1222+. 9or him castration is e6al to symbolic death, an important
moment of initiation that makes the #breakthrogh in plane# possible, after which the initiated
is reborn and the dimension of the sacred opens p for him. ?e describes an African rite in
detail, in which the operators wear lion *X+ and leopard skins and attack the novices) genital
organs. Sometimes operators are literally called #lions# and for circmcision *that is
castration+ they se the verb #to kill#. After sbincision the initiated becomes N similar to the
gods N androgynos *X+. !n the initiation scenarios the means for casing rital death, besides
castrationVcircmcision, is the analogos process of being chopped by a deityJ one version of
this is being grond and swallowed by the teeth of $other Harth)s vagina dentata. Several
myths tell the story of passing throgh the vagina dentata and the dangeros entering into
caves and chasms, which are the symbols of $other Harth)s interior, the moth of hell and the
devil)s gateway *-reed ses the same expressions when she speaks abot the vagina dentata)s
psychological significance+. The passages separate those who are nable to break away from
the direct, profane reality from those who are able to experience the higher trth, #the sacred#
*Hliade, 1222+. These symbols may appear not only in myths, bt in dreams, fantasies and
hallcinations as well.
According to Ingian psychology, which is close to Hliade)s approach, in these myths and
dreams the nderworld symboli.es the nconscios and the descent, or #kathabasis#
represents the beginning of the individali.ation process *Ing, 122<+. Dring this #descent
into hell# the hero or the novice has to fight the monsters of the nderworld, that is his own
complexes, and integrate the liberated contents of the nconscios. !t is followed by a
spirital and mental #rebirth# of a more complete personality, the centre of which is no longer
the ego bt the centre and totality of personality, the #Selbst#. The strctre of psychological,
psychotherapetic and mythological narratives shows great similarity and this is by no means
an accident. The evolvement of individal existence and fate, which proceeds from the
original #innocence# throgh #the fall# to #redemption#, may be paralleled with a niversal
historical theme that is present, irrespective of time and space, in the processes of both
individal and collective myth-formation *?esse, 3EEE+. This narrative shows analogy with
the characteristics of #taking a 5orney# and #prsing consmmation# from Kawrence
Hlsbree)s five generic plotsJ while after Rorthop 9rye *in the case of a favorable otcome+ it
can be approximated to the archetype of comedy *$cAdams, 12==+. The following table lists
the parallelisms4
Psychoanalytic situations Mythological situations
!ntraterine sitation *9erenc.i+, dal
nion *?ermann+, symbiosis
*$ahler+
Garadisiacal state, innocence
Trama of birth *0ank+, separation
*$ahler+, basic falt *>'lint+
9all, relapse into sin, explsion
Desire for intraterine regression
*9erenc.i+, re-approximation
*$ahler+
Garadisiacal nostalgia, desire for
restoring the archaic state
$alignant regression
*psychopathological phenomena+,
benign regression *therapy, >'lint+,
#regression in the service of the ego#
*Lris+
Travelling in the nderworld,
symbolic death *being torn,
swallowed+, process of initiation
Rew beginning *>'lint+,
individalisation process *Ing+,
reintegration of the personality
dring therapy
0ebirth, experiencing
transcendence, breakthrogh in
plane, redemption
5. 1ourney into the underworld, psychopathological crisis and the creative process
!n the history of hman cltre #Gromethean# people have reglarly appeared, who have
ndertaken the dangers of the #5orney into the nderworld# in order to ac6ire knowledge
and to bring #the message of gods# to the people. These mediators are always the chosen
ones, the initiated4 prophets, shamans, philosophers, artists and sacred madmen who gain their
special knowledge by their ecstatic travels in the #other world#. These #travellers# are often
lonely, misnderstood people from the periphery of society who are considered to be insane
*9(ldMnyi, 1228+. !n mythology those who convey the message of gods and the spirital
leaders are often androgynos, becase of their divine origin, or hermaphrodites who carry the
characteristics of both sexes, like ?ermes. *LerMnyi, 12=8+. */e have already toched pon
the role of androgyny in Dal)s life from another aspect.+ The motif of descending into hell
can also be fond in the Dirgilian motto of 9red)s The Interpretation of Dreams *#!f ! cannot
bend ?eaven, ! shall move ?ell#+, the #self-analysis# that serves as the experimental basis of
The Interpretation of Dreams can also be considered a kind of internal descent into hell.
>efore his 5orney the shaman, who may be identified as the #prototype# for the traveller or
the one who descends into hell, goes throgh a disintegrational phase or crisis which Hliade
calls #psychopathological crisis# *Hliade, 3EE:+. 9rom a psychological aspect the different
forms of this internal 5orney *dream, madness, possession, psychedelic states, inspiration+
may be considered as regressionJ sing the concepts of mythology they represent symbolic
death and initiation and they are the prere6isites for the birth of the new and for
reintegration. /hen travelling certain parts of the personality regress and the internal contents
fall nder the inflence of primary processes. Hrnst Lris, a leading figre in psychoanalytic
ego psychology who also excelled in the psychology of art, called this process a #regression
in the service of the ego#, the inspirational sb-phase of which *inspiration+ is followed by
elaboration *creative work+. The transitional regression or #disintegration# needed for creative
work is different from psychotic disintegration in that a #creative sbsystem within the ego#
*>eres, 6oted by Lraft, 122=+ takes over the problems of the whole personality and
garantees that those processes which are indispensable in the creative soltion of the crisis,
namely reintegration and creative work remain intact.
>ased on the facts mentioned above it woldn)t be srprising to consider Salvador Dal as
sch a #Gromethean# figre as well, a kind of modern shaman who experienced his visions,
the raw material for his art, in ecstatic *internal+ travels and descents into hell. >t the creative
#paranoid-critical method# that he described goes beyond this and is more complex than the
average srrealistic efforts of trying to liberate regressive psychic mechanisms and the
atomatism of the nconscios. Dal elaborated his dreams, fantasies and hallcinations sing
very strict critical principles before trning them into works of art, while N as it is
characteristic of great artists and is stressed by 9red *9red, no year indicated+ N distancing
them from their original, personal sorces. Therefore his progressive paintings made at the
end of the 123Es and in the 12<Es are not simply the docments of his adventres in the
nconscios4 they express general trths of existence and this is what renders power to their
exceptional sggestiveness.
0eferences
&>0A?&$, $!LKYS N TZ0ZL, $&0!A *122=+4 0e5tett gy's. Ms titkos s.erelem. *?idden
morning and secret love.+ Thalassa, *2+, 3-<4 13<-1:@.
>&K!RT, $!?&K[ *1228+4 A. \st(rMs. *>asic falt.+ AkadMmiai Liad%, >dapest.
>YLA[, ARTAK N ?OSQ, $&0!A *122@+4 Gs.ichoanal.is Ms s.]rreali.ms. Dal
l'togat'sa 9redn'l. *Gsychoanalysis and Srrealism. Dal)s visit at 9red.+ Tdom'nyos
Dial%g, 122@V1, 88-8=.
-?ADA0A/, RAR-[ *3EEE+4 A femini.ms Ms a ps.ichoanalitiks elmMlet. *9eminism and
Gsychoanalytic Theory.+ ^_5 $and'tm L(nyvkiad%, >dapest.
-0HHD, >A0>A0A *122<+4 The monstros-feminine. 9ilm, feminism,
psychoanalysis.0otledge, Kondon.
DAK`, SAKDADA0 *12=7+4 $illet Angels'nak tragiks mtos.a. *The Tragic $yth of
$illetBs Angels.+ -orvina, >dapest.
HTL!RD, AKHaARDH0 *1222+4 A lehetetlen Hr%s.a. *Hros of the !mpossible.+ Hr%pa
L(nyvkiad%, >dapest.
HK!ADH, $!0-HA *1222+4 $is.tiks s.]letMsek. *$ystical births.+ Hr%pa L(nyvkiad%,
>dapest.
HK!ADH, $!0-HA *3EE:+4 A samani.ms. A. ext'.is \si technik&i. *Shamanism.Archaic
Techni6es of Hcstasy+ Asiris, >dapest.
9H0HR-Q!, S&RDA0 *12=3+4 A val%s'gMr.Mk fe5l\dMsfokai Ms patologiks
viss.atMrMs]k.*The Developmental Stages of Sense of 0eality and Their Gathologic
0ecrrence.+ !n4 Kelki problMm'k a ps.ichoanal.is t]krMben. *Gsychoanalytic Approach of
Gsychic Groblems.+ $agvet\ L(nyvkiad%, >dapest.
9H0HR-Q!, S&RDA0 *122@+4 Latas.tr%f'k a nemi mbk(dMs fe5l\dMsMben. *-atastrophes of
the Development of Cenital 9nctions.+ 9ilm, >dapest
9ZKDcR[!, 9. K&SQK% *1228+4 $elank%lia. *$elancholy.+ AkadMmiai Liad%, >dapest.
90HOD, S!C$ORD *122<+4 &lomfe5tMs. *The !nterpretation of Dreams.+ ?elikon Liad%,
>dapest.
90HOD, S!C$ORD *122=+4 A ksMrteties. *The Oncanny.+ !n4 Antal >%kay, 9erenc Hr\s
*editors+4 Gs.ichoanal.is Ms irodalomtdom'ny. *Gsychoanalysis and Kitrary Stdies.+ 9ilm
Liad%, >dapest.
90HOD, S!C$ORD *no year indicated+4 A k(lt\ Ms a fant'.iambk(dMs. *The Goet and
9antasy.+ !n4 $bvMs.eti r'sok. *Artistic literatre.+ 9ilm L(nyvkiad%, >dapest.
90A$$, H0!-? *3EE1+4 A rombol's anat%mi'5a. *The Anatomy of ?man Destrctiveness.+
?'ttMr Liad%, >dapest.
CHRQ$H0, ?H0>H0T. *3EEE+4 Dal. Taschen, Dinc.e Liad%, >dapest.
C!>SAR, !AR. *1222+4 Salvador Dal botr'nyos Mlete. *The Shamefl Kife of Salvador Dali.+
A6ila kiad%, >dapest
?AK&SQ, K&SQK% *3EE3+4 A fredi mbvMs.etps.ichol%gia. 9red, a. r%. *9redian Art
Gsychology. 9red the /riter.+ Condolat, >dapest.
?H0$ARR, !$0H *12=8+4 A. ember \si (s.t(nei. *The Ancient !nstincts of ?mankind.+
$agvet\ L(nyvkiad%, >dapest.
?H0$ARR, !$0H *122:+4 A ps.ichoanal.is, mint m%ds.er. *Gsychoanalysis as a $ethod.+
Condolat, >dapest.
?HSSH, ?H0$ARR *3EEE+4 Hgy kis teol%gia. *A Kittle Theology.+ !n4 Gillant's a k'os.ba.
*A Clance at -haos.+ -artaphilis, >dapest.
?AGG&K, $!?&K[ N IARLAD!-S, $A0-HKK N RAC[, ARD0&S N SQH$AD&$,
C[(0C[ *1228+4 IelkMpt'r. *A -ollection of Symbols.+ ?elikon Liad%, >dapest
IORC, -A0K COSTAD *122<+4 A. ember Ms s.imb%lmai. *$an and ?is Symbols.+ C(nc(l
Liad%, >dapest
IORC, -A0K COSTAD *1228+4 >eve.etMs a tdattalan ps.ichol%gi'5'ba. *!ntrodction to the
Gsychology of the Onconscios.+ Hr%pa L(nyvkiad%, >dapest
LH0cR[!, L&0AK[ *12=8+4 ?ermMs. a lMlekve.et\. *?ermes, the Cide of the Sol.+
Hr%pa L(nyvkiad%, >dapest
LH0R>H0C, ATTA 9. *122<+4 >orderline s.indr%ma Ms patol%gi's n'rci.ms. *>orderline
-onditions and Gathological Rarcissism.+Animla, >dapest
LAHSTKH0, A0T?O0 *12@<+4 S.ok's Ms eredetisMg. *Tradition and !ndividality.+ !n4
K's.l% ?al's. *editor+4 $bvMs.etps.ichol%gia. *Gsychology of Art.+ Condolat L(nyvkiad%,
>dapest,
L0A9T, ?H0$ARR *122=+4 >eve.etMs a ps.ichoanalitiks mbvMs.etps.ichol%gi'ba.
*!ntrodction to Gsychoanalytic Art Therapy.+ !n4 Antal >%kay, 9erenc Hr\s *editors+4
Gs.ichoanal.is Ms irodalomtdom'ny *Gsychoanalysis and Kiteratre.+ 9ilm Liad%,
>dapest
KALATAS, $HR[?c0T *12@:+4 9]st(s kMpek *$isty Gictres.+ $agvet\, >dapest
$ADDAa, -ARDA[ *122<+4 Salvador Dal, a k]l(nc .seni. *Salvador Dal4 Hccentric and
Cenis.+ Taschen, Llt^drtrade Lft, >dapest
$-ADA$S, DAR!HK *12==+4 Gower, intimacy, and the life story. The Cilford Gress, Rew
[ork
$HRTQAS, STAD0AS *no year indicated+4 A konflikts - feldolgo.'s nerotiks ^dt5ai.
*Rerotic ways in elaborating conflicts+ KMlekben Atthon, >dapest
$!IAKKA, AKA!R DH.*ed+ *3EE:+4 !nternational dictionary of psychoanalysis, Thomson-
Cale
$!T-?HKK, STHG?HR A. N >KA-L, $A0CA0HT I. *3EEE+4 A modern ps.ichoanalitiks
gondolkod's t(rtMnete. *9red And >eyond4 A ?istory Af $odern Gsychoanalytic Thoght.+
Animla, >dapest
G&K$A!, L0!SQT!&R *no year indicated+4 A kristevai s.emiotiks 5elensMgek Ms a. ab5ekci%
fogalm'nak meghat'ro.'sa. *Defining Lristevan Semiotics and Ab5ection.+ O0K4
http4VVwww.kodolanyi.hVs.abadpartV38V38ekommepalmai.htm
0AD0!COHQ, $A0CA0!TA GH0H0A. *3EEE+4 Cenises of art N Dal. Spanish State,
Oniversal heir to Salvador Dal, Degap, Spain
SHCAK, ?ARRA *122@+4 >eve.etMs $elanie Llein mnk'ss'g'ba. *!ntrodction To The
/ork Af $elanie Llein.+ Animla, >dapest
TA0CHT, $A0[ *122=+4 A k(t\dMs repre.ent'ci%5a s^dlyos s.emMlyisMg.avarban s.enved\
betegeknMl. *0epresentation of attachment in patients with severe personality disorder4
!mplications for practice.+ Thalassa, *2+, 14 88-:7.
T(0(L $&0!A N 0ARD $!LK%S *122=+4 A tdattalan fantom5ai. >es.MlgetMs T(r(k
$'ri'val Ms 0and $ikl%ssal. *Ghantoms of the Onconsciosness. A -onversation with $'ria
T(r(k and $ikl%s 0and.+ Thalassa, *2+, 3-<4 113-13<.
D!L'0 C[(0C[ *3EE@+4 Lr.is Ms kreativit's. *-risis and -reativity.+ !n4 I'nos 9]redi N >Mla
>da *editors+4 $^d.s'k a dv'nyon *$ses on the -otch.+, $edicina, >dapest
To cite this article, use this bibliographical entry: Qolt'n Lov'ry FThe Hnigma of Desire4 Salvador Dal and the con6est of the irrationalF.
GS[A0T4 A ?yperlink Iornal for the Gsychological Stdy of the Arts. December 1:, 3EE2. Available
http4VVwww.psyart5ornal.comVarticleVshowVkovry-theeenigmaeofedesireesalvadoredaleandeth. Ine 32, 3EE2 Tor whatever date yo accessed the
articleU.
Received: Ianary 1, 3EE2, Published: Ine 32, 3EE2. -opyright f 3EE2 Qolt'n Lov'ry
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