A Re-Constructed Identity of the Narcissistic M(other): A Psychoanalytic Study of Julia Kristeva’s Possessions

• Main Authors: Po-Yang Lin, 林博揚
• Other Authors: Song-Yen Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/47049337672491478678

碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 外國語文學系 === 101 === The aim of this M. A. thesis attempts to propose that a narcissistic mother (other) reforms her/its identity via the perspective of love. The phase of narcissism is experienced to establish one’s identity. Furthermore, it helps extinguish the object from others and retain one’s subjectivity. Methodologically, there are three theoretical perspectives coined, that is, Freudian narcissism, Lacanian Mirror Stage and Kristevan narcissism. Kristeva creates a term “the imaginary father” to bridge the gap before the separation to convey her own interpretation about narcissism. This thesis examines how a person rids of its original identity and garners a new one in Julia Kristeva’s novel—Possessions. In chapter one, through the lens of Freud, Lacan, and Kristeva, the forming of the identity and subjectivity is observed in narcissistic phase. In chapter two, it explores how a narcissist changes his or her identity. The outcome is that the maternal love guarantees a promising land to leave the semiotic and enter the symbolic. Eventually, the subject can face the separation bravely and founds its own identity.