Narcissism in modern visual culture: the phenomenon of selfie

The relevance of the work. In 2013, employees of Oxford University called selfie word of the year. Now we are seeing not only the introduction of this term into everyday life, but also the total presence of the selfie in popular culture. Understanding the selfie phenomenon occurs in the context of various discourses - cultural, psychological, anthropological, philosophical, sociological, and their “common place” is the connection between selfi and narcissism. The main aim and methods. In this paper, an attempt was made to analyze the selfie phenomenon in the context of existential anxiety, manifested in the growth of narcissistic tendencies in modern visually oriented culture. At first glance, a selfie is just a photography that is no different from any other (a camera or a smartphone is a matter of technology and image availability). Roland Barth described the essence of photography and its attractiveness through the attempt of ontological rootedness “I was here”, that is, photography is a factual confirmation: I had this moment, I can return to it in an attempt to relive the moment anew and thereby overcome death. Such an understanding is essential for the totality of selfiemania in modern culture, and two aspects are key here: the translation of self-vision in a socially approved (or socially disapproving, provocative) context and the absence of the photographer figure, since the photographer and the model coincide. It is this coincidence that, in our opinion, predetermined modern selfiemania, because, in essence, selfie is a technology that allows you to make yourself not just an aesthetic, trending construct, but a body-sign, and fill it with those special meanings that model-photographer wants to see. The question arises: selfie with its photographic nature - is it a painful dependence or self-construction, self-care, how it may seem to a social network user? In order to answer this question, the concept of self-care was contrasted with narcissism in our work. Taking care of yourself is the only way, as Michel Foucault writes, to gain individuality. However, becoming an individual is a way out of the standards of everyday life. It is always a great effort, pain and anxiety, as it involves, above all, spiritual change. In fact, this is an existential risk zone for the individual. Narcissism is an infantile defensive reaction, because it always draws the libido (psychic energy) on itself, thereby supporting the imperfect, immature Ego. The situation of the social network is such that by making some image public, exposing it, the user creates a virtual counterpart, approved by society. The results. Compulsive appropriation of reality through selfie is designed to relieve the existential anxiety of consciousness, which is fixated on maintaining its own Ego. By appropriating reality, a person regresses to a state of infantile narcissistic omnipotence.

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