Solving what could not be solved 1945 in Mitscherlichs' The inability to mourn

摘要

In their book The inability to mourn: principles of collective behaviour (first published 1967) Margarete and Alexander Mitscherlich reminded the Germans of their euphoric approval of National Socialism. Discussing the emotional reactions of the perpetrator society was a singular act in the historic situation of postwar Germany; however, they did not only assert that mourning the victims had not taken place, they also wanted to show that this mourning could have been possible. Their analysis of the transition period after 1945 and their connected thoughts on a "pattern of emotional development" as a reaction to the mass murders were supposed to prove their point. Within the wild conglomerate of feelings, such as anxiety, shame, guilt, anger and sadness, the Mitscherlichs presupposed a hierarchical succession of affective responses, thus describing processes of defense and suppression that should lead towards a final mourning reaction. This article intends to show that the developmental pattern described by the Mitscherlichs was wishful thinking of the authors rather than the product of a sound analysis. Missing links in their arguments, theoretical inconsistencies and breaches of logical thinking are pointed out in order to demonstrate how their political desire for the Germans to mourn their victims actually overrides their psychoanalytic analysis of the collective emotional response as it has taken place. On the one hand they minimized the experiences of violence and of shame and on the other hand they failed to discuss the impossibility of mourning when a narcissistic object is destroyed.