The right to narcissism : a case for an im-possible self-love

206 Pages·2014·1.29 MB·English

by  DeArmitt

The Right to Narcissism

The Right to Narcissism
a case for an im- possible self- love
pleshette dearmitt
fordham university press
New York 2014
Copyright © 2014 Fordham University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
DeArmitt, Pleshette, 1967–
Th e right to narcissism : a case for an im-possible self-love /
Pleshette DeArmitt. — First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8232-5443-9 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8232-5444-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Narcissism. I. Title.
BF575.N35D4 2014
128—dc23
2013015248
Printed in the United States of America
16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1
First edition
for Kas,
my traveling companion

Contents
Ac know ledg ments ix
Introduction: Th e Right to Narcissism? 1
part i. Rousseau: Th e Passions of Narcissus
Introduction: Another Morality Tale? 17
1. Man’s Double Birth 23
2. Regarding Self- Love Anew 36
part ii. Kristeva: Th e Rebirth of Narcissus
Introduction: Self- Love—Beyond Sin, Symptoms,
and Sublime Values 53
3. Reconceiving Freud’s Narcissus 61
4. Transference, or Amorous Dynamics 80
part iii. Derrida: Th e Mourning of Narcissus
Introduction: Th e Very Concept of Narcissism 91
5. Th e Eye of Narcissus 101
viii Contents
6. Th e Ear of Echo 124
Afterword. Narcissism—By What Right? 139
Notes 141
Bibliography 177
Index 187
Ac know ledg ments
During the writing of this book, which spanned more years
than I anticipated, I experienced, like Narcissus, death and
(re)birth, mourning and renewal. Th is work is intellectually and
aff ectively shaped by the untimely loss of each of my parents
and the joyous arrival of the ardent Seraphine Pari, allowing me
to think through the limits and expansiveness of narcissism, as
well as narcissism’s inextricable relationship to love of the other.
While writing this book, I enjoyed the friendship and sup-
port of colleagues, friends, and family who, directly and indi-
rectly, contributed to this project coming to fruition. I would
like to express my gratitude to those colleagues in the fi eld who
invited me to share my work in speech and in print, as well as
to those who provided important feedback, encouragement,
and friendship: Tina Chanter, Crina Gschwandtner, Martin
Hägglund, Leonard Lawlor, Dawne McCance, Elizabeth Rot-
tenberg, Alan Schrift, and Ewa Ziarek. I am especially grateful
to Elissa Marder and Kelly Oliver for the intellectual and emo-
tional generosity each has shown me over the last few years.
Michael Naas, a dear friend and mentor, has without a doubt
x Ac know ledg ments
profoundly marked the course of my thinking and writing, for
which I am deeply appreciative.
I greatly benefi tted from the Professional Development
Assignment (2010– 11) granted to me by the University of Mem-
phis, which enabled me to make important strides in completing
my manuscript. I am thankful to my colleagues and graduate
students in the Philosophy Department at Memphis for their
helpful feedback on early versions of chapters that were pre-
sented in our Research in Progress series. I am also grateful to
the graduate students in my Rousseau seminar on the passions
for their careful and challenging engagement with the mate-
rial, which sharpened my own interpretations. Finally, I would
like to extend my sincere thanks to my chair, Deborah Tollef-
sen, for her support during the completion of this work and for
making the Memphis Philosophy Department a more family-
friendly environment.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to my editor,
Helen Tartar, for her generous support of my manuscript, and
to Tom Lay, for his tremendous care and effi ciency in assisting
this fi rst- time book author. I also would like to thank Juliann
Barbato for her judicious and skillful copy editing, and Eric
Newman for his patient help in the publication of this work.
I am truly grateful to Billy Zane for kindly granting me per-
mission to use his elegant and spare portrayal of Echo and Nar-
cissus on the cover of my book.
For their energy, joie de vivre, and friendship, I am indebted
to Justine Malle and Joanne Molina. Finally, I thank my fam-
ily, Sally and Jerry Aron, Manouchehr and Mastaneh Saghafi ,
Dara Saghafi and Yoli Rodriquez, for their love and support
over the years. Th e memory of my mother, Dolores DeArmitt,
accompanied me during the writing of this book.
Early versions of a few sections of the book were previously
published. I am grateful to the presses for granting me permis-
sion to republish them here in revised form. An abbreviated
version of Chapter 3 fi rst appeared as “On the Border between