Memoir by Nobel novelist J. M. Coetzee: Multiple Personality meaning of its Third-Person narration explained in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” by Dickens.

Why is the protagonist of J. M. Coetzee’s memoir (1) “he” rather than “I”? Why would someone refer to himself in the third person?

In The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Charles Dickens planned to reveal the murderer’s multiple personality by having him refer to himself in the third person. Dickens assumed that the meaning of third-person self-reference—multiple personality—would be obvious to the average reader.

However, in reviews of Coetzee’s fictionalized memoir, I have not seen anyone raise the issue of multiple personality (usually using euphemisms) until the third part of this trilogy, Summertime, even though the third-person narration starts at the very beginning of the first part, Boyhood.

Having just started Boyhood, I will reserve further comment until I have read more.

1. J. M. Coetzee. Scenes from Provincial Life: Boyhood [1997], Youth [2002], Summertime [2009]. New York, Penguin Books, 2011.