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Gifts and [[money ]] are [[unconsciously ]] associated with [[anal ]] [[eroticism]]. In "On Transformations of [[Instinct ]] as Exemplified in Anal Erotism" (1916-1917e), Sigmund [[Freud ]] writes, "It is probable that the first [[meaning ]] which a [[child]]'s interest in faeces develops is that of 'gift' rather than 'gold' or 'money.' . . . Since his faeces are his first gift, the child easily transfers his interest from that substance to the new one which he comes across as the most valuable gift in [[life]]. Those who question this derivation of gifts should consider their [[experience ]] of [[psycho]]-[[analytic ]] [[treatment]], study the gifts they receive as doctors from their [[patients]], and watch the storms of [[transference ]] which a gift from [[them ]] can rouse in their patients" (pp. 130-131). The gift is meaningful because of its connection to the [[libido ]] and eroticism. Freud's investigation led him to the discovery of the [[unconscious ]] link with defecation and its relation to treasure hunting.

Karl [[Abraham ]] (1916) examined the connection between excessive giving and [[anxiety]]. He investigated (1919) the transference meaning of the associations—occasionally excessive—presented by the [[patient ]] to the [[psychoanalyst ]] as a gift. This attitude is an expression of [[narcissism ]] and is characterized by its view of [[analysis ]] as something governed by the [[pleasure ]] [[principle]].

What happens to the [[instinctual ]] impulses of [[anal eroticism ]] after the [[genital ]] organization has been established? Freud in "On Transformations of Instinct as Exemplified in Anal Eroticism" (1916-17e) responds with the [[idea ]] of the transformation of instinct. In this [[schema]], gift equals excrement according to the [[symbolic ]] [[language ]] of the [[dream ]] and daily life.

The first gift is excrement, a part of the [[infant]]'s [[body ]] he gives up only upon the [[mother]]'s [[insistence ]] and through which he manifests his [[love ]] for her. Defecation and its relation to the [[object ]] thus become the first opportunity for the infant to choose between [[bodily ]] pleasure (narcissism) and object love (sacrifice).

Later in life the interest in excrement is transferred to an interest in gifts and money. The [[concepts ]] of excrement, infant, and [[penis ]] are poorly distinguished and are frequently treated as if they were equivalent; they can easily be substituted for one [[another]]. Freud perceived the [[identity ]] of the infant with excrement in the [[linguistic ]] expression: "to give a child." Similarly, Freud wrote in the "[[Wolf Man]]" (1918b), "By way of this detour demonstrating a common point of departure in their [[significance ]] as gifts, money can now attract to itself the meaning of [[children]], and in this way take over the expression of [[feminine ]] ([[homosexual]]) [[satisfaction]]."

Freud views the transference relation of certain patients as a vague [[recollection ]] of this problematic, arising whenever the patient wants to interrupt the unfinished treatment and [[place ]] himself in a [[situation ]] of disdain that originates in the [[outside ]] [[world]]. The patient then replaces the urgent [[desire ]] to have a child with promises of significant gifts, most often as unrealistic as the object of his [[past ]] desire. This [[concept ]] is developed in Beyond the [[Pleasure Principle ]] (1920g).

Melanie [[Klein ]] (1932-1975) demonstrated the importance of the theme of poison gifts as a source of [[depression ]] and [[melancholy ]] toward the object. "For the child gifts attenuate his [[guilt ]] by symbolizing the free gift of what he wanted to obtain by [[sadistic ]] means." In this same article, Klein clarifies the [[role ]] of [[ambivalence ]] and sees it as a step forward compared to archaic mechanisms. The gift provides access; it is a preliminary [[form ]] of [[sublimation ]] within the compulsions of reparation and restitution associated with obsessive [[behavior]].

# Abraham, Karl. (1966). Examen de l'étape prégénitale la plus précoce du [[développement ]] de la libido. [[Complete ]] works, vol. 2, 1915-1925. (pp. 231-254) (I. Barande, Trans.) [[Paris]]: Payot. (Original [[work ]] published 1916)# ——. (1979). A [[particular ]] form of [[neurotic ]] [[resistance ]] against the psycho-analytic method. (pp. 303-311) In Selected papers of [[Karl Abraham]], M.D. (Douglas Bryan and Alix Strachey, Trans.) New York: Brunner/Mazel. (Original work published 1927)# [[Freud, Sigmund]]. (1908b). [[Character ]] and anal erotism. SE,9: 169-175.

# ——. (1918b). From the [[history ]] of an [[infantile ]] [[neurosis]]. SE, 17: 1-122.# ——. (1920g). Beyond the [[pleasure principle]]. SE, 18: 1-64.# Klein, Melanie. (1975). The psycho-analysis of children. (Alix Strachey, Trans.) [[London]]: Hogarth Press. (Original work published 1932)

Gift(-giving), 18, 19, 33, 76, 95, 99, 100, 108, 115, 159 <ref>Muller, John P. and William J. Richardson. [[Lacan ]] and Language: A Reader's [[Guide ]] to [[Ecrits]]. New York: International Universiites Press, Inc., 1982.</ref>