Description
Book SynopsisThrough an engagement with the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Julia Kristeva, and Jacques Derrida, this book argues for a rethinking of the concept of narcissism and aims to wrest it from its common and pejorative meanings, egoism and vanity, revealing the complexity and importance of this notion.
Trade Review"A fascinating book... highly recommend." -Choice "Deftly working at the intersection of philosophy, psychoanalysis, and literature, DeArmitt makes a fascinating case for self-love, or narcissism. With subtle and incisive readings of Rousseau, Kristeva and Derrida, DeArmitt shows the necessity for rethinking narcissism as an ethics of otherness." -- -Kelly Oliver Vanderbilt University "Pleshette DeArmitt's gem of a book, The Right to Narcissism, makes a cogent, timely, and well-crafted case in support of reclaiming the concept of narcissism from the pejorative meanings with which it has most commonly been associated for much of the modern era." -- -Elissa Marder Emory University
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Right to Narcissism? Part I. Rousseau: The Passions of Narcissus Introduction: Another Morality Tale? 1. Man's Double Birth 2. Regarding Self-Love Anew Part II. Kristeva: The Rebirth of Narcissus Introduction: Self-Love-Beyond Sin, Symptoms, and Sublime Values 3. Reconceiving Freud's Narcissus 4. Transference, or Amorous Dynamics Part III. Derrida: The Mourning of Narcissus Introduction: The Very Concept of Narcissism 5. The Eye of Narcissus 6. The Ear of Echo Afterword: By What Right? Notes Bibliography
