Narcissism and the Literary Libido: Rhetoric, Text, and Subjectivity: 6 (Literature and Psychoanalysis) - Hardcover

Alcorn Jr., Marshall W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0814706142 ISBN 13: 9780814706145

Publisher: New York University Press, 1994

Synopsis

What is it that makes language powerful? This book uses the psychoanalytic concepts of narcissism and libidinal investment to explain how rhetoric compels us and how it can effect change.

The works of Joseph Conrad, James Baldwin, Michael Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Arthur Miller, D.H. Lawrence, Ben Jonson, George Orwell, and others are the basis of this thoughtful exploration of the relationship between language and subject. Bringing together ideas from Freudian, post- Freudian, Lacanian, and post-structuralist schools, Alcorn investigates the power of the text that underlies the reader response approach to literature in a strikingly new way. He shows how the production of literary texts begins and ends with narcissistic self-love, and also shows how the reader's interest in these texts is directed by libidinal investment.
Psychoanalysts, psychologists, and lovers of literature will enjoy Alcorn's diverse and far-reaching insights into classic and contemporary writers and thinkers.

About this title

About the Author

Marshall Alcorn, Jr. is Professor of English, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

From the Back Cover

What is it that makes language powerful? This book uses the psychoanalytic concepts of narcissism and libidinal investment to explain how rhetoric compels us and how it can effect change. Synthesizing the ideas of theorists as diverse as Aristotle and Althusser, Kohut and Derrida, Alcorn explores the relationships between language and subjectivity. The works of Joseph Conrad, James Baldwin, William Faulkner, Arthur Miller, D. H. Lawrence, Ben Jonson, George Orwell, and others are the basis of this thoughtful analysis of the rhetorical resources of literary language. Using Freudian, post-Freudian, and Lacanian theory, Alcorn Investigates the power by means of which literary texts are able to fashion new and distinctly rhetorical experiences for readers. He shows how the production of literary texts begins and ends with narcissistic self-love, and also shows how the reader's interest in these texts is directed by libidinal investment. Psychoanalysts, psychologists, and lovers of literature will enjoy Alcorn's diverse and far-reaching insights into classic and contemporary writers and thinkers.

Edition details

• Publisher: New York University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814706142
• ISBN 13: 9780814706145
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 264