Naming the Harm: a Cartography of Narcissistic Abuse and Its Relational Grammar on Social Media
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54790/rccs.142Keywords:
narcissistic abuse, symbolic violence, intimate relationships, digital ethnography, discourse analysis, recognitionAbstract
This article examines narcissistic abuse as a form of symbolic violence within intimate relationships. Drawing on digital ethnography and critical discourse analysis, it analyses publicly available content on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, where survivor communities and therapeutic practitioners have developed and stabilised a vocabulary for naming and interpreting relational harm. The study reconstructs the cycle of abuse through four phases: idealisation (love bombing), devaluation, discard and re-engagement (hoovering). It identifies recurring tactics such as love bombing, gaslighting, the silent treatment, intermittent reinforcement, breadcrumbing, ghosting and flying monkeys. The findings indicate that these categories constitute a relational grammar that renders visible an architecture of affective subordination grounded in the asymmetrical administration of recognition. The limitations of the research design are acknowledged, and avenues for future empirical inquiry are proposed.
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