Glossary of Multiple Identity Literary Theory

normal multiple personality: a term coined by Multiple Identity Literary Theory to mean multiple personality that is not a mental illness, because it does not cause the person distress and/or dysfunction; because it may be an asset (e.g., to write novels); and because it is relatively common, estimated to occur in 90% of novelists and 30% of the general public.

multiple personality disorder: the mental illness in which a person has two or more identities; some identities are in conflict with, or are not aware of, each other, resulting in battles and memory gaps; and there is distress and/or dysfunction. The diagnostic category is Dissociative Disorders, which are not psychotic and have nothing to do with schizophrenia.

multiple personality: depending on context, may refer to either of the above. The term is used in this blog, because most people are familiar with it. (Multiple identity would be a better term, but it is not in common use.) Split personality is an informal synonym.

For example, a woman is a mother and a scientist. If these are ordinary roles, then when she is performing one role, she fully remembers and identifies with everything about her other role, too. However, if these are alternate identities, and she has multiple personality, then the mother identity and the scientist identity experience themselves as two separate people, who do not identify with each other, and who may or may not be aware of each other or know what each other thinks and does, since some identities are co-conscious and some are not. If the multiple personality causes her distress or dysfunction, it is a disorder; if not, it is normal.

dissociative identity disorder: Since 1994, this is the formal name for multiple personality disorder in the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual, the DSM.

alter: short for alternate personality or alternate identity, usually in distinction to the host (see below). But alter may sometimes be used more generally to refer to any identity, including the host.

host: short for host personality or host identity. For example, in novelists, this would be the identity who does interviews. Sometimes the host is more than one identity. The host is also known as the regular personality or identity.

original personality or identity: The host or regular identity is often not the first or original one, who may actually be a minor player in the person’s current life.

the real person: Neither host nor alter nor original identity is the real person. The real person is all of them together, taken as a whole. Therefore, conflicts among the identities should be resolved through negotiation and cooperation, not war or divorce.

double, literary double, theme of the double: two (or more) characters in a story are not really individuals, but are alternate personalities, in what is, in effect, a multiple personality story. They may have the same appearance, as in Dostoevsky’s The Double, hence the term. Or they may look different, one transforming into the other, as in Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde or Kafka’s Metamorphosis. "Double" is a literary synonym for alter (alternate personality). Literary versions of the double may include twin characters and character-splitting.

Multiple Identity Literary Theory: Most novelists have normal multiple personality and use it to write novels. For a more complete outline, see the April 28, 2014 post. This blog originated the theory, and it evolves with each post.