Bernardo Soares on the Couch. Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet as Illustration of Negative Narcissism

Abstract: The Book of Disquiet of Fernando Pessoa is about the suffering of Bernardo Soares. Bernardo’s parents died before his age of three. Soares is a fictional creation and does coincide with what Pessoa experienced. Soares captures Pessoa's dynamics: the identification with a dead object is portrayed in his poetry and expressed as negative narcissism. Soares appears as a hypersensitive person who is bombarded by perceptions and emotions. He incessantly complains of emptiness and disgust with humanity. He splits himself in parts where one part is keenly observing how other parts are suffering and annulled. The internalization of the negative is impressive in Soares. Soares has become a Narcissus who despises Echo. A major recurring theme is repulsion. The presence of the other inhibits his thinking. Soares mirrors himself in his dreamlife. He has become a living death. This literary masterpiece is linked to Green’s identification with a dead mother and his concept of negative narcissism.