Multiple Identity Literary Theory

Multiple identity, in one form or another, is pervasive in fiction writing; for example, literary alter egos, twin or double characters, character splitting, ghosts (in Margaret Atwood’s words, “the Henry James kind”), possession, characters with multiple personality—much more common in novels than people realize; it is often unacknowledged by the writer and most reviewers—multiple narrators, multiple voices or implied authors, and so forth. What do all these literary features have in common, other than their multiple identity? They are written by writers who are inclined to write that way.

Multiple Identity Literary Theory says that multiple identity is surprisingly common in fiction, because most fiction writers have “normal multiple personality” or “normal dissociative identity” or “normal multiple identity” (use whichever wording you prefer). Normal multiple personality is integral to the process by which most novelists create and relate to their characters and stories.

What makes “normal multiple personality” normal? It doesn’t cause distress or dysfunction. And it is surprisingly common among the general public; for example, according to surveys, many people speak with their guardian angels, just like novelists speak with their characters. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” as the 1946 classic film says.

Why isn’t this already covered by psychoanalytic literary theory? Because classic Freudian theory cannot account for the existence of multiple personality (see June 2013 post), leading Freud and most of his followers to miss the diagnosis and ignore the issue.

What about other kinds of multiple identity? Many people are multilingual, multiracial, multiethnic, multinational, multi-gender, etc. Don’t these other types of multiplicity contribute to the multiple identity in writers and their writings? Probably. And I don’t object to including them in Multiple Identity Literary Theory. But these other forms of multiple identity are not present in many writers, and the normal multiple personality of writers remains the most important factor in making multiple identity so pervasive in fiction writing.

NOTE (added April 9, 2014): This post is an incomplete description of Multiple Identity Literary Theory. The blog as a whole is a statement of the theory. New details and aspects of the theory are added with each post. But the essence of the theory is that novelists have and use multiple personality to write novels, and that multiple personality is much more common than people realize: my guess is 90% of novelists and 30% of the general public.