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All these works emphasize modes of symbolization that are no longer solely based on the absence of the object but that integrate into the theory of symbolization the modes of encounter and presence of the object as well as the form of the first links that are inscribed in the first years of life. These works identify the processes that are at the center, no longer of the infantile in the strict sense of the term, but of what concerns the archaic. They are of considerable importance in French-speaking psychoanalysis, which, mainly with reference to Freud, continues to consider that psychoanalytic practice and the analysis of transference cannot simply be envisaged in the 'here and now' of the session, but must always also maintain the testimonies and rejections of past experiences in the latent thought of the psychoanalytic listening. These issues remain a standing debate and controversy on the international psychoanalytic scene. There is still a point to be addressed in the question of symbolization, that of its relationship with reflexivity. Based on W.R. Bion's "Theory of Thinking" (1962), Andre Green and Jean Luc Donnet (1973) propose to underline the importance not only of psychic representation, but of the necessity of a representation of the activity of representation, or "representation of representation", or of its absence "representation of the absence of representation". The concept thus emphasizes the question of reflexivity, which partly replaces that of consciousness and opens up the question of the forms of reflexivity when they concern non- verbal forms of language. If we consider that symbolization is a form of representation that contains a clue that it is indeed a representation and not a perception, then the question becomes that of "the symbolization of symbolization" and it splits into symbolization of "primary" symbolization and symbolization of "secondary" symbolization. For the latter, the forms are obvious and easily accessible because verbal language is full of examples: e.g., I imagine, I represent myself, as a metaphor, perhaps even "I think" etc. As far as the primary forms of symbolization are concerned, the question is more complex. Historically, it has been illuminated by the work of Milner (1977), who describes the function of "pliable medium" objects in the formation of symbols "in thing", i.e. in the representations of things. From this is deduced a necessary "pliable medium" function present in the mode of communication and the first care in the first exchanges, which confers a "symbolic function" onto these and onto the primary objects. III. C. Italian Contributions The Italian psychanalyst Eugenio Gaddini (in: Mascadini., Gaddini, A., De Benedetti 1989), whose work had dealt mainly with pre-symbolic proto-mental functioning, considered that from birth onwards, there is a progressive, and at first fragmentary, mental sense of the body, gradually organizing itself into the first sense of self. From six months onwards, this archaic sense of self becomes reflected through a visual image, thus being the first representation of the body. This, following the scribbling phase, will be expressed graphically by the child as a circle, ‘i.e., the child’s first creative expression.’ This round image will be
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