1. PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies - Special Research Course Reading list
The ‘Different Self’: Idealisation, Narcissism and the Ideal Ego
Summer Term 2013
Dr Robbie Duschinsky
In investigating the issue of narcissism, Freud forges a powerful account of the
relationship between the ego, its ideals and the body. Building on Freud’s account, and
those of later analysts, the seminars will focus on the interpretation of ideals of
perfection, plenitude and purity. Our reading on the economic problem of narcissism
will be oriented, in particular, by Juliet Mitchell’s chapter ‘The Different Self, the Phallus
and the Father’ in Psychoanalysis and Feminism, and her work on the lateral axis. In the
course of our exploration, we will also consider contemporary debates in American
psychiatry over whether or not to remove ‘Narcissistic Personality Disorder’ as a
diagnostic category from DSM-5.
Preliminary Reading for Session 1
Philip Crockatt (2006): Freud's ‘On narcissism: an introduction’, Journal of
Child Psychotherapy, 32:01, 4-20
Sigmund Freud (1914) ‘On Narcissism’, translated in Standard Edition 14 and/or
http://www.freud2lacan.com/docs/On_Narcissim_with_Introduction.pdf
Sigmund Freud (1916-1917) ‘The Libido Theory and Narcissism’ Lecture 26 of the
Introductory Lectures, translated in Standard Edition 16.
Key texts
Aaron Pincus and Mark Lukowitsky (2010) ‘Pathological Narcissism and Narcissistic
Personality Disorder’ Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 6(8): 1-26
André Green (1982) Life Narcissism, Death Narcissism, London: Karnac
Béla Grunberger (1989) New Essays on Narcissism, London: Karnac
Edith Jacobson (1954) The Self and the Object World—Vicissitudes of their Infantile
Cathexes and their Influence on Ideational and Affective Development
Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 9:75-127
Heinz Kohut (1971) Analysis of the Self, International Universities Press
Jacques Lacan (1953-4) ‘The Topic of the Imaginary’ in Freud’s Papers on Technique, NY:
Norton
Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel (1985) Ego Ideal, NY: Free Association Press
Jean Laplanche (1976) Life and Death in Psychoanalysis, Baltimore, Maryland: John
Hopkins University Press
Joseph Sandler, Peter Fonagy and Ethel Spector Person ed. (1991) Freud's On
Narcissism: An Introduction, London: Karnac
Juliet Mitchell (2000) Siblings, Cambridge: Polity
Rosine J. Perelberg (2004) ‘Narcissistic Configurations’ The International Journal of
Psychoanalysis 85(5): 1065–1079
Sara Beardsworth (2004) ‘Narcissism’ in Julia Kristeva: Psychoanalysis and Modernity,
NY: SUNY
Sigmund Freud (1915) ‘Instincts and their vicissitudes’ translated in Standard Edition
14