A pretty trifle: art and identity in Boswell's London journal.

Abstract

This study speculates on what effects narcissistic injuries inflicted during James Boswell's childhood might have had on the artistry in the London Journal. Drawing heavily on the theories of Erik Erikson, narcissism, and Jay Martin k theory of the fictive personality, it suggests that Boswell's literary talent was stimulated by the need to relieve the psychic distress of a painful identity crisis. When in London, he attempted to relieve this psychic pain by composing an entertaining journal narrative that would evoke mirror images of a talented writer in an audience of one.