This article discusses the status of the body in cases of schizophrenia involving reiterated episodes of self-mutilation. The body is approached from references by Freud regarding narcissism and from J. Lacan´s references to the mirror stage. Narcissism is seen as a basic point, and the possible consequences of failures in this psychic function are discussed. The procedure draws a parallel between a clinical case and Lacan´s discussions on two different moments concerning the notion of body. Based first on the case of Lol V. Stein, in Marguerite Duras’s novel “Le ravissement” and, later, from the case of James Joyce, specifically in the episode of the beating he described in “A portrait of the artist as a young man.” In conclusion we point out that the solution found by our subject differs from these two latter cases commented on by Lacan. However a similar operation is sought: to constitute a defined body as a surface where something is inscribed by introducing a negative sign.
Body; self-mutilation; schizophrenia; narcissism