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Fragrance of Narcissism – A Comparison Between Eastern and Western Concepts

Received: 26 July 2015    Accepted: 16 August 2015    Published: 20 October 2015
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Abstract

Love and life are the two sides of a coin. But the form of love is not same everywhere. It is manifested through different colours and connotations and as a result sometimes it comes as a sweet fragrance of a flower and sometimes its forms become destructive. Narcissism or self-love can be channelized in both ways. In this paper an attempt has been made to make a comparative analysis between the viewpoints of two cultures regarding their concepts of narcissism. In both cultures the colour of self-love are expressed in different ways. In western concepts it is regarded as the medium of rearing up process of self, while in eastern thought it is the meaning of life, hope and ways of releasing pent up feelings. To understand the different vibrations of narcissism in different cultures here the concepts of Jung and Rabindranath Tagore regarding narcissism and spiritual existence are taken into consideration. By searching the history and entering into the concepts of Jung, it is found that according to him narcissism is the primary energetic function of self-presentation or the key for development of stable self. In Tagore’s viewpoint it is the understanding one’s existence in this world is the source of one’s spiritual existence. By devoting the energy of self into others actually helps one to identify the pathway of own happiness.

DOI 10.11648/j.ss.s.2015040601.11
Published in Social Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 6-1, December 2015)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Literature & Psychology

Page(s) 1-4
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Narcissism, Self, Spirituality, Happiness

References
[1] Gupta, K. (2005, 30th June): The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. Ashgate Publishers Limited, Pp-15-16, 58-99.
[2] Satinover, J. (1986): Jung’s Lost Contribution to the Dilemma of Narcissism. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 401-438.
[3] Homans, P. (1979): Jung in Context. Chicago: University, Chicago Press.
[4] Hotchkiss, S. and Masterson, J. F.(2003): Why Is It Always About You?: The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism
[5] Jung, C. G. (1921): Psychological types. C. W., 63, 495-524.
[6] Jung, C. G. (1961): Memories, Dreams, Reflections. New York: Pantheon.
[7] Lubit, R. (2002): The long-term organizational impact of destructively narcissistic managers. Academy of Management Executive, 16(1), pp-127-138.
[8] Neville, S. (1993): Narcissism: A New Theory. H. Karnac Ltd. Pages-6–7. ISBN 9781855750470.
[9] Satinover, J. (1985): At the mercy of another: abandonment and restitution in psychosis and psychotic character. Chino, 47-86.
[10] Stern, P. (1971): C. G. Jung: The Haunted Prophet. New York: Delta.
[11] Thomas, D.(2012): Narcissism: Behind the Mask, ISBN 184624935X
[12] Ticho, E. (1982): The alternate schools and the self. Journal of American Psychoanalytic Association, 30,819-862.
[13] Winnicott, D. W. (1964): Review of C. G. Jung's "Memories, Dreams and Reflections." International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 45, 450-455.
[14] Wolf, E. (1984): Review of Psychologische Aspekte des Briefwechsel Zwischen Freud under Jung, by K. R. Eissler. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 53, 450-454.
Author Information
  • Department of Psychology, Bijoy Krishna Girls’ College, Howrah

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    Chatterjee Sraboni. (2015). Fragrance of Narcissism – A Comparison Between Eastern and Western Concepts. Social Sciences, 4(6-1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.s.2015040601.11

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    Chatterjee Sraboni. Fragrance of Narcissism – A Comparison Between Eastern and Western Concepts. Soc. Sci. 2015, 4(6-1), 1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.s.2015040601.11

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    Chatterjee Sraboni. Fragrance of Narcissism – A Comparison Between Eastern and Western Concepts. Soc Sci. 2015;4(6-1):1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.s.2015040601.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ss.s.2015040601.11,
      author = {Chatterjee Sraboni},
      title = {Fragrance of Narcissism – A Comparison Between Eastern and Western Concepts},
      journal = {Social Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6-1},
      pages = {1-4},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ss.s.2015040601.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.s.2015040601.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.s.2015040601.11},
      abstract = {Love and life are the two sides of a coin. But the form of love is not same everywhere. It is manifested through different colours and connotations and as a result sometimes it comes as a sweet fragrance of a flower and sometimes its forms become destructive. Narcissism or self-love can be channelized in both ways. In this paper an attempt has been made to make a comparative analysis between the viewpoints of two cultures regarding their concepts of narcissism. In both cultures the colour of self-love are expressed in different ways. In western concepts it is regarded as the medium of rearing up process of self, while in eastern thought it is the meaning of life, hope and ways of releasing pent up feelings. To understand the different vibrations of narcissism in different cultures here the concepts of Jung and Rabindranath Tagore regarding narcissism and spiritual existence are taken into consideration. By searching the history and entering into the concepts of Jung, it is found that according to him narcissism is the primary energetic function of self-presentation or the key for development of stable self. In Tagore’s viewpoint it is the understanding one’s existence in this world is the source of one’s spiritual existence. By devoting the energy of self into others actually helps one to identify the pathway of own happiness.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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