Novelist’s new awareness of "parts”—alternate personalities of multiple personality trait—is manifest in new wish for plural pronouns

“Yahya Bas, the hero of Guy Gunaratne’s new novel, “Mister, Mister,” is a tricky character to pin down. Is he an idiot, poet, jihadist or all of these at once?

“As Gunaratne answered this question and found Yahya’s voice, the author’s own self-conception evolved. ‘This book fundamentally changed how I think about my own identity,’ Gunaratne, who was born in Britain to Sri Lankan parents, said during a recent interview in central London. ‘This self-inquiry, which comes with an extended period of writing, led me to assert parts of myself that had gone unaffirmed.’ Now, Gunaratne identifies as nonbinary, and uses they/them pronouns” (1).

Comment: Many people with multiple personality have alternate personalities of more than one gender, and so are nonbinary.

1.Tobias Grey. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/07/books/mister-mister-guy-gunaratne.html