Parental Narcissism and Its Impact on Child: Amadu Maddy’s Novel “No Past No Present No Future” as Example

Abstract

The study explores parental narcissism and its impact on child, adopting Amadu’s novel ‘No Past, No Present, No Future’ as example to show how the theory of narcissism could be applied to reexamine Anglophone African novels. The study specifically focuses on how family dynamics and social issues have influenced the mental activities of the major character, Ade and how he fails to cope with the pressures of everyday life, often resulting in psychic dispossession. As such, the researcher uses textual analysis and descriptive criticism approach to unravel the causes and consequences of Ade’s narcissistic disturbance. The theory of narcissism which is dominantly informed by Freudian and post-Freudian approaches to psychology is used to account for the intra-psychic forces which operate within the narcissistic character, Ade and his parents in Amadu’s ‘No Past, No Present, No Future’. The study reveals the existence of character with narcissism, whose psychopathology is as a result of the complementary roles of narcissistic parent-child relationship. The study further reveals that Ade’s narcissistic disturbance is characterized by the fear of being dispossessed, narcissistic form of loving, aggression, and grandiosity.

Received: 4 January 2023 / Accepted: 23 February 2023 / Published: 6 March 2023