The Myth of Narcissus and the Narcissistic Structure
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1997 The yM th of Narcissus and the Narcissistic Structure. Joachim Conrad hermann Vogeler Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Vogeler, Joachim Conrad hermann, "The yM th of Narcissus and the Narcissistic Structure." (1997). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6603. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6603 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE MYTH OF NARCISSUS AND THE NARCISSISTIC STRUCTURE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Interdepartmental Program in Comparative Literature by Joachim C. H. Vogeler M.A.T., Freie Universitat Berlin, 1993 December 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9820757 Copyright 1997 by Vogeler, Joachim Conrad Hermann All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9820757 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © Copyright 1997 Joachim Conrad Hermann Vogeler All rights reserved ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The story of Narcissus has captured my full interest since December 1991 when my friend Holger Kaltofen invited me to explore a psychological interpretation of the ancient myth. I was very pleased when Professor Robert J. Edgeworth at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge offered me the opportunity to pursue my interest. I thank him first of all for all his encouragement and help in overseeing the writing of my dissertation. Over the past four years, many others have also supported me in various ways: first, of course, my parents Dipl.-Ing. Jurgen and Gisela Vogeler deserve to be mentioned first for their reliable assistance. Special thanks must also go to Dr. Dr. Wilfried Wieck and the participants of his summer 19 95 retreat, who provided me with a forum for discussing my proposal. For her sound editorial advice, I wish to thank Mimi Bhattacharyya, M.A., first of all. I would also like to thank my colleagues Dr. Daniel Carpenter, Barbara Craig, M.A., and my friend Monika Olivier for critical readings of my work. Professor Alexandre Leupin, and my other committee members, Professors Emily Batinski, Ruth Bowman, John Pizer, and Gregory Stone have provided many valuable suggestions for improving the manuscript. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Finally, I would like to thank my friends Dr. Markus Pennekamp, Dipl.-Ing. Martin Hecker, and Robert Gottschalk for their interest in and support of my endeavor. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................. vi ABSTRACT .................. viii I. INTRODUCTION: THE CULTURE OF INCEST PROHIBITION . 1 The Culture of Narcissism........................... 1 The Research Situation .............................. 2 Purpose, Thesis, and Method of this Study .......... 6 II. THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO M Y T H ................. 13 Interpretations of M y t h ........................... 13 Literature and Psychoanalysis ....................... 20 Narcissus and Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism .. 26 Definitions of Narcissism........................... 33 Ego and Self Psychology ........................... 51 Jacques Lacan ...................................... 57 III. THE NARCISSISTIC STRUCTURE IN CLASSICALLITERATURE 82 The Narcissus Theme in Classical Literature .......... 82 The Myth of Narcissus prior to O v i d .............83 Ovid's Version of the Myth of Narcissus .... 95 The Psychoanalytic Implications of the M y t h ............ 105 A Kohutian Reading of Ovid's T e x t ...............106 A Lacanian Reading of Ovid’s T e x t ............... 115 IV. CAPTAIN AHAB'S NARCISSISTIC STRUCTURE IN HERMAN MELVILLE’S MOBY-DICK ........................... 132 V. GUSTAV VON ASCHENBACH'S NARCISSISTIC STRUCTURE IN THOMAS MANN'S DER TOD IN VENEDIG ...............165 VI. CONCLUSION: THE NARCISSISTIC STRUCTURE ............ 212 REFERENCES ....................................... 216 VITA ........................................... 225 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS E Lacan, Jacques. Ecrits. A Selection. Translated by Alan Sheridan. New York: W. W. Norton: 1977. Originally published as Ecrits (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1966). Death in Venice Mann, Thomas. Death in Venice and Other Stories. Translated by David Luke. London: Seeker and Warburg, 1990. GW Freud, Sigmund. Gesammelte Werke: Chronologisch geordnet. 18 vols. 1940-1968. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 1973-1978. Hill Ovid. Metamorphoses 1-4. Edited and translated by D. H. Hill. Warminster, Wiltshire: Aris & Phillips, 1985. Jones Pliny. Natural History. Translated by H. Rackham. 10 vols. Vols. 6-8 translated by W. H. S. Jones. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1938-1965. Mann, GW Mann, Thomas. Gesammelte Werke. 12 vols. [Frankfurt/Main]: S. Fischer Verlag, 1960. Moby-Dick Melville, Herman. Moby Dick: or The Whale. Edited by Harrison Hayford et al. Vol. 6 of The Writings of Herman Melville. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1988. OLD Oxford Latin Dictionary. Edited by P. G. W. Glare. 1968. Reprint, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982. Ov. Met. Ovid. Metamorphoses. Edited by William S. Anderson. 4th ed. 1977. Reprint, Leipzig: Teubner, 1988. Plin. Nat. Hist. Pliny. C. Plinius Secundus Naturalis Historia. Edited by L. Ian and C. Mayhoff. 7 vols. 1892. Reprint, Stuttgart: Teubner, 1967. RE Paulys Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. 24 vols. Edited by Georg Wissowa et al. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 1894- 1963. Roscher Aus fiihrliches Lexikon der griechischen und romischen Mythologie. Edited by Wilhelm H. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Roscher. 7 vols. 1884-1937. 2nd reprint, Hildesheim: 01ms, 1977-1978. S 1 Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book 1. Freud's Papers on Technique, 1953-1954. Edited by Jacques-Alain Miller. Translated by John Forrester and Sylvana Tomaselli. 1988. Reprint, New York: W. W. Norton, 1991. Originally published as Le Seminaire I (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1975). S 2 Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book 2. The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis, 1954-1955. Edited by Jacques- Alain Miller. Translated by John Forrester and Sylvana Tomaselli. New York: W. W. Norton, 1988. Originally published as Le S&minaire II (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1978). S 1 Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book 7: The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-1960. Edited by Jacques- Alain Miller. Translated by Dennis Porter. New York: W. W. Norton: 1992. Originally published as Le SGminaire VII (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1986). SE Freud, Sigmund. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works. Translated and edited