Narcissism, kropp och modernitet

Abstract

Narcissism, the body and modernity

The notion of narcissism is often used and misused within contemporary social theory. Whereas the concept is frequently used in discussions of moral decline and of the negative impact of consumer culture on social character, the aim of this article is instead to put forward a social psychological analysis of narcissism. Goffman’s discussion of the presentation of self in everyday life and Giddens’ theory of self-identity and modernity, are used as points of departure in an analysis of the social psychological aspects of narcissism. The main argument in the article is that it is necessary to study the contextual aspects of the construction of what is often called ”narcissistic disorders”. This implies a change of emphasis from narcissism as a general social and cultural disorder, to more specific analysis of critical situations and critical milieux. The article also contains a discussion of the relation between the ambivalent character of modernity, the cult of the body and narcissism. Examples from the gym culture are used in order to highlight some of the arguments in the article.