Abstract

The possibility of criticism teeters on an insidious paradox. The subject is the source of social criticism but is itself created by absorbing social norms. Truth regimes structure our selves and environment and are toxic for critical thought. I argue that if social criticism is to have any force it is necessary first to become aware of the extent to which one's critical capacities have been compromised and then take steps to address it. ;I assess various literary examples in which the self is taken as an object of elaboration. I examine how these practices might be used as 'practices of the self'---ways of creating new relationships to oneself and others as a step towards challenging existing norms and systems of social organization. I use a model of care of the self derived both from Foucault's late work on the critical ontology of the self and Freud's theory of psychic change. The methods and theories of Foucault and Freud are compared and contrasted and I show that Foucault's quarrel is more with psychoanalysis as an institutional framework than as a theory of social critique and the unconscious. ;I argue that the care of the self can function as a preservation of difference and a form of critical thinking. To explore these areas I have sought out literary depictions of characters struggling with themselves and others. I explore themes of dandyism as discussed by Charles Baudelaire, masochism as presented by Sacher-Masoch and narcissism based on the original myth of Ovid. These three practices are self-reflexive. They take the self as an object of action. I explore the internalization or introjection of social norms and values and discuss the role of the imagination and disavowal. By analyzing different forms of subjectivity it is possible to be more aware of how one uses and is used by power, how one is implicated in various techniques of power and how one can use power to advance one's goals. Once one begins this process of trying to be more attentive to one's historical subjectivity it is possible to develop ways of detoxifying oneself and advancing to work for social change with others