Elena Ferrante: A Novelist Who Writes Under a Pseudonym and Refuses to Reveal Her Real Identity

I first heard of her only today in the New York Times article, “Scant Clues To a Secret Identity: The Pseudonymous Elena Ferrante Discusses Her Feminist Potboilers.” The author is known only by her pseudonym. She never makes personal appearances. Her interviews are conducted in writing.

It is as if Mark Twain had never made public appearances, and had refused to reveal his real identity, Samuel Clemens.

EW: Why are you living out the bold decision to write under a pseudonym?

ELENA FERRANTE: Anyone who writes knows that the most complicated thing is the rendering of events and characters in such a way that they are not realistic but real. In order for this to happen it is necessary to believe in the story one is working on. I gave my name to the narrator to make my job easier. Elena is, in fact, the name that I feel is most mine. Without reserve, I can say that my entire identity is in the books I write.

—Email interview by Karen Valby, Sept. 5, 2014, in Entertainment Weekly

Now, to say her “entire identity is in the books I write” is, if you’ll excuse the pun, double talk. She is no more completely Elena Ferrante than Samuel Clemens was Mark Twain.

However, if she has multiple personality, and one of her personalities is named Elena Ferrante, and if the above is an interview of that personality, then, from that personality’s point of view, what she says could make sense.

But, since most novelists have multiple personality (a nonpathological version), why can’t this novelist deal with the public using her real name, like most other novelists? Probably because most novelists—e.g., Doris Lessing, see past posts—have a host personality to do interviews. The host personality uses the person’s real name and knows enough about both the writings and the person’s personal life to handle most questions. And, evidently, this novelist does not have a good host personality.

Nevertheless, why can’t the Elena Ferrante personality do in-person interviews and simply refuse to discuss personal matters? Apparently, what she looks like is an issue. Alternate personalities have their own self-image, and Elena Ferrante may have a self-image (e.g., as to age) that differs markedly from what other people expect. Based on how long she’s been publishing, etc., other people may expect that she’s middle-aged. But the Elena Ferrante personality may honestly see herself as being, let’s say, age twenty, and so she fears that when people see she is only twenty, that could be a problem.

Let me again emphasize that I just heard of this novelist, and I’m not in a position to address the issues of this novelist specifically. Host personality and personal appearance may, or may not, be the best explanations here. My main point is that something or other related to multiple personality may explain why she doesn’t do personal appearances or say who she really is.

Or maybe she doesn’t want an ex-husband to find her. That could be the explanation, but it is not the subject of this blog.