17

After going back to the sources of the concept of “symbolic efficiency,” this article lists the principal reasons that make the newborn human—theories surrounding his/her conception of emotions, representations, and the practices used in welcoming him/her upon his/her arrival into the world—a passionate anthropological object. From ethnology to psychoanalysis, by way of intercultural psychology, the article goes back over the dialogue between and the occasional blind spots in these disciplines in their approach to the baby and his/her encounter with those who surround him. It demonstrates why, in light of more recent clinical work but requiring a real multidisciplinarity, this “fundamental anthropological situation” surrounding the first bonds should no longer be considered to be a “minor subject” for anthropological research.