a Body et al.

ok, i haven't read any of his books yet and any more details will be coming after that, but today my mom told me about one of her favorite authors almost certainly being plural and i am losing my mind

his name is fernando pessoa, and he invented the term heteronym, if anyone here is familiar with it. the blurb on the book of disquiet--the one i'm getting started reading--begins, "Fernando Pessoa was many authors in one. He attributed his prolific writings to a wide range of alternate selves, each of which had a distinct biography, ideology, and horoscope." his first heteronym originated when he was six years old, and he had them all his life, including communicating with himself through them. the heteronyms were also intentionally created, but they weren't always intentionally accessed.

authors having plural experiences in their writing is nothing new, but what's most interesting to me about pessoa's is how they are all explicitly authors (rather than characters talking back), and explicitly recognized by scholarship without anyone seeming to notice how textbook multiple this all is--probably because the intentionality throws them off, and i imagine the venn diagram of portuguese literary scholars and MPD fanatics are two barely touching circles. (and honestly the point where they touch is probably exclusively my portuguese-speaking art scholar mom telling her plural nerd child& about this author.)