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NiclasJohansson
UppsalaUniversity
NarcissusandNarcissisminEarlyPsychoanalysis:
TeIntertextualDialoguebetween
TemeandConcept
TepurposeofthispaperistodiscusstherelationbetweenNarcissusandnarcis-
sism.Narcissus,theheroofaGreekmyth,wasimmortalizedthroughhisappear-
anceinthethirdbookofOvid)sMetamorphoses,andhasprosperedintheWest-
ernliterarycanoneversince;narcissismwasforcefullyintroducedasacentral
componentinpsychoanalytictheorybySigmundFreudin1914,andhassince
becomeastapleintheself-understandingofoursociety.1
Techoiceoftheterm“narcissism”todesignatethe“thelibidinalcomple-
menttotheegotismoftheinstinctofself-preservation”isofcoursenotarbi-
trary.2Buthow,morespecifically,istherelationbetweenliterarythemeandpsy-
choanalyticconcepttobeconceived?Howdoesearlypsychoanalysisrelatetothe
historyoftheNarcissusthemeinitsshapingofthenewconcept?Itisthesketch
ofananswertothatquestionwhichwillbepresentedinthispaper,focusingon
thepsychologicalconceptionofnarcissismbetween1899and1914.
AnobviousstartingpointwouldofcoursebetocompareNarcissustothe
otherBoeotianherowhoplaysanimportantroleinpsychoanalysis,namelyOed-
ipus.3TepictureofOedipusinpsychoanalysis,however,isquitedińerentfrom
thatofNarcissus.OedipusisintroducedbyFreudhimself,bymeansofapen-
1Ovid,Metamorphoses,3:339-510.
2SigmundFreud,TeStandardEditionoftheCompletePsychologicalWorks:Vol.XIV(Lon-
don:TeHogarthPress,1957),73-4.
3Narcissus,bytheway,canarguablybeassumedtohavebeensubstitutedforOedipusin
Ovid)sMetamorphoses,whereaccordingtotheTebancircle,Oedipuswouldhavehadamore
naturalpositionthanNarcissus.Cf.IngoGildenhardandAndrewZissos,“Ovid)sNarcissus
(Met.3:339-510):EchoesofOedipus,”AmericanJournalofPhilology121(2000):129-47andDenis
Knoepfler,LaPatriedeNarcisse(Paris:OdileJacob,2010),44.