Pseudonyms

 

Pseudonyms are a very interesting concept to me. The art of changing your name, which ultimately changes who you are, has a certain appeal that one cannot fully describe. I mean who hasn’t changed their name when their out and creepy guys hit on you? I know that my name always changes when I go out, partly to assume a different persona for the night and partly because, well, its just fun. The excitement of becoming someone different and the thrill that no one knows your real name proves to make an interesting night. Authors however, most likely have a different thought process when it comes to choosing to use a pseudonym, or a pen name. As we presented today for the class, there are many contemporary and historically famous authors who took on a pen name when they published their own works. Voltaire is known to be one of the earliest authors who took on a pseudonym and heavily influenced the idea in future writers. As we have gone over in class, many many times, Mark Twain is also another very famous author who uses a pseudonym while publishing works. Even though the reasoning behind Samuel Langhorne Clemens using a Pseudonym is unclear, it is very obvious that he uses a nautical term that translates to “safe to navigate”. Many authors though used Pseudonyms in a way to have more of an effect on their readers, which can lead to the pseudonym-effect. The Pseudonym-effect is the combination of mystery, desire, and authorial representation formed in the public mind once the use of a pseudonym has been revealed. In all honesty, I would choose a pseudonym purely to mess with people’s heads. TO be able to remain unknown and hear how readers react to your works while still remaining anonymous. Stephen King once attempted this, but the news that he was using a pseudonym got out before he could gather any information from his readers. Overall, pseudonyms are a great way to keep authors identity anonymous while marketing their pieces of writings being published. Many women writers would use male names as a pen name and others would use pseudonyms when they decided to switch back and forth between genres. Pseudonyms cerate mystery and desire, as the pseudonym-effect states, and creates an illusion between the author and the readers.