Fernando Pessoa (post 4): Probably genuine multiple personality, but award-winning translator needs to consult expert on multiple personality

In previous posts, I questioned the validity of Pessoa’s multiple personality, because none of his alternate personalities was nameless, and some were said to be inconsistent. But those problems may be due to honest misunderstandings of the editor/translator.

How did the translator recognize and identify Pessoa’s alternate personalities? By names? So that may be why none is nameless.

And when a personality seemed inconsistent, the inconsistency may have been due to the unrecognized intervention of a nameless personality.

In general, if Pessoa left much of his writings in a trunk, and the editor/translator had to choose which writings made enough sense to publish, an expert on multiple personality might have been helpful in making those choices.

And then there is the issue of childhood trauma. Multiple personality originates as a way to cope with it. And there will be certain alternate personalities who know about it. Of course, memories must be corroborated, because some “memories” may be fantasies. But a history of childhood trauma and its relation to certain of the alternate personalities is necessary to understand where the person is coming from. Are any of Pessoa’s poems about childhood trauma?

In short, books on Pessoa need to be edited by a great translator, but one who is working in collaboration with a bilingual, Portuguese/English-speaking expert on multiple personality.