Early Mother–Son Relationships, Primary levels of Mental Organization and the Foundation Matrix as Expressed in Fairy Tales: The Case of the ‘Jewish Mother’

Abstract

Relying on the idea that fairy tales are part of the foundation matrix, and that the phenomenon of realization of idiomatic expressions (often appearing in fairy tales) helps to reveal the affinity between concrete and metaphoric layers of the mind, this article focuses on the realization of idiomatic expressions found in fairy tales dealing with the earliest mother–son relationships in order to explore the different modes of expression in the social mind. Focusing on the folk tradition of eastern European Jews we exemplify the affinity between primary levels of mental organization, which are relatively universal, and social-cultural aspects with which a certain ethnic community is pre-occupied.