Palabras clave
Alfred Priest
narcissism
drugs
Cómo citar
Resumen
This essay sets out to demonstrate how the construct of narcissism has been discursively used to degrade both homosexuals and drug addicts since the late nineteenth century. The attribution of narcissism to these two figures has hinged on several apparently shared characteristics. Drug addicts have been accused of narcissism due to their inward-turning, anti-social, self-destructive acts. Queer subjects have also been charged with this offense, because of the supposed mirror-image dynamic occurring in same-sex desire. Both drug addicts and homosexuals have been labeled as selfabsorbed and self-indulgent, ostensibly prioritizing pleasure over social norms and responsibilities. In order to problematize the uses of the term narcissism in relation to both homosexuality (or, more precisely, queerness) and drug addiction, the author critically examines Alfred Priest’s painting Cocaine, which was displayed at the Royal Academy’s first summer exhibition following the First World War. The essay contextualizes the painting’s reception in terms of post-war anxieties about masculinity and drug use, particularly the use of cocaine, which was believed to be emasculating. It is argued that early twentieth-century British viewers perceived the central male figure in Priest’s painting as both queer and narcissistic, because of his association with cocaine, his dandyism and his ostensible self-absorption.
Citas
“The Abuse of Cocaine,” The British Medical Journal (15 March 1919), 321.
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