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the identification of one object with another as the basis of symbolism, and symbolism as the basis of all talents, including sublimation. Milner offered a more complex view of the process of symbol formation by amplifying one aspect of Ernest Jones’s argument in his paper on ‘Symbolism’ (1916). Although Jones and later, Klein, stress loss and fear/anxiety as the major reasons for the infant’s shift of interest from the original primary object to a secondary object, emotionally felt as the same, Jones recognised there is a need to establish a relation to reality in “the easiest possible way” (quoted in Milner, 1987, p.84). For him, while symbolism originates in prohibition, it also acknowledges other wishes and needs, what Milner will describe as a need to endow the world with something of the self. Together with Sachs and Rank, Jones summarises this process somewhat dismissively as "only a symbol," whereas the British independents are interested in the symbol in and for itself . For them the symbol is an original form of expression, a part of prelogical thinking that gathers together an inner organisation linked to the establishment of identity in difference. They question the emphasis on symbol formation as an essentially defensive activity aimed at avoiding conflict and unease, since such a view overlooks the newborn’s curiosity and interest in the surrounding world. The distinctive contribution of the independents makes the relation of internal and external world not merely a condition of symbolizing an internal development. It emphasises that both living, and psychoanalysis spring from the wish to be a participant in one’s own world, whether alone or with others. A more extended understanding of symbols links them to the creative process emphasising the newness, aliveness and enrichment they represent. Milner’s clinical work with Klein’s grandson, Simon, posed questions regarding the roots of the self, its origins in the encounter with the environment and the development of the capacity to symbolise itself. She proposed ‘that the basic identifications that make it possible to find new objects, to find the familiar in the unfamiliar, require an ability to tolerate a temporary loss of sense of self, a temporary giving up of the discriminating ego which stands apart and tries to see things objectively and rationally and without emotional colouring (1987, p.97). In her work with Simon, Milner was struck by the different tones Simon would adopt towards her and the toys and how this shifted over the course of the session. At the beginning he was bullying, but as he played with the toys, this changed and he spoke to her in a friendly, considerate way. She linked this to his attitude to the toys, ‘a pliable medium’ outside himself but provided by her. As he could use them as he wished, this seemed to enable a different relation to her, and to himself. It highlighted a reciprocal relation between self and environment as part of internal change. The environment/analyst facilitates a necessary initial oneness by the consistent provision of a framed space and a pliable medium where no decision is necessary about what is self and other; the establishment and awareness of objects by the infant precedes any attempts at repairing them. Awareness of the external world is itself seen as a creative process, “a
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