Narcissism in Postmodern Society

Abstract

Freud’s theory on narcissism was developed in a society where the bourgeois had influential dominant power, so the analysis he proposed was in a cultural and historical atmosphere created by the upper class. Moreover, Christopher Lasch also mentioned his in influential book The Culture of Narcissism (1978) that narcissistic culture was taking place in a “late capitalism.” I intend to argue in this paper that Lasch’s narcissistic culture was embedded in a postmodern society, that is, “late capitalism” refers to postmodernism. Therefore, I employ the ideas postmodern thinkers such as Baudrillard, Georg Simmel, and Habermas to discuss how the characteristics of individuals living in postmodern society are similar to the characteristics of narcissists portrayed by Lasch. First, I elaborate on the issue of self-identity, followed by a discussion of narcissistic culture depicted by Lasch. Finally, I propose the contribution and critiques of Lasch’s discourse of development of narcissistic culture.