This thesis examines the concept of narcissism in Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and its place within contemporary socio-cultural interpretations. The first part presents Freud’s conceptualization of narcissism, with particular attention to the notions of primary narcissism, object choice, the ego ideal, and the superego. The analysis also incorporates Jacques Lacan’s theory of the mirror stage as an important contribution to understanding the formation of the ego. The second part discusses contemporary theories of narcissism developed by authors such as Christopher Lasch, Zygmunt Bauman, and Slavoj Žižek, who relate narcissism to processes of individualization, the instability of identity, and an increased dependence on external recognition. The central section of the thesis consists of a comparative analysis of these approaches. It argues that while contemporary theories successfully describe the social manifestations of narcissistic subjectivity, Freud’s theory provides a deeper insight into the psychic mechanisms that make such manifestations possible. The thesis concludes that contemporary narcissism does not constitute a new psychic structure but rather a historically specific articulation of processes that Freud described at the level of metapsychology.
|
