Narcissism: fragile bodies in a fragile world

Abstract

In this two-part paper we explore how, in Western society, intensified consumer culture, playing on feelings of shame and inadequacy, can be seen as reactivating the ‘narcissistic wound’ while the recent growth of information technology increasingly provides access to a global spectacle and a virtual world that offer an escape from reality. This fuels the illusion of immortality and invulnerability to physical/emotional needs. We ask who benefits from this culture of unrelatedness and disembodiment, and what the repercussions are in terms of participation in social life and organized response to global issues. Using material from our practices and from social life, we seek to identify the collective cost of maintaining a disassociation that can permeate not only the therapeutic process but also work, personal relationships and events on the political stage. We consider a view of former president Bush as a narcissistic leader in a narcissistic culture with the Iraq war as a narcissistic misadventure and we present vignettes from the consulting room, Dance Movement Therapy work in Holloway Prison and the academic world of prehistoric archaeology to show how narcissistic behaviours are embedded in many diverse situations in Western society. We ask how the concept of narcissism in our media age can help us understand phenomena such as the rise of fundamentalism, celebrity cults, insatiable aspirations to ‘self-improvement’, obsessions with ‘success’ and consumer goods, the denial of ageing, the upsurge in cosmetic surgery, body modification and self-harm as well as growing addiction to alcohol and hard drugs. Finally, we ask how the narcissistic fantasy of self-sufficiency, the disavowal of loss and the denial of the ultimate non-discursive reality of death affect our ability to respond appropriately to human injustice and the fragility of our planet. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.