Becoming Your+Self Through Writing
It is impossible to write as Your Self after some time. Just you. Plain you.
The person who writes is not quite the person sitting there, keyboard under their fingers, but rather a reflection in a fluid mirror—the concept of identity becomes elusive when we write. Writing not only serves as an act of expression but also as a profound transformation where the writer and the written blur into one, leading to a "fictional self" that interacts with the world through the intricacies of text.
It is impossible to write as yourself after some time. The person who writes is not quite the person sitting there, keyboard under their fingers, but rather a reflection in a fluid mirror—the concept of identity becomes elusive when we write.
Writing not only serves as an act of expression (the visual expression of an act, as well, be it “typing” or “dictating”) but also as a profound transformation where the writer and the written blur into one, leading to a "fictional self" that interacts with the Real through the intricacies of text.
I am my text
You see me not, but words from an abstract, absented me.
The text of the person who writes is not quite what the person typing was thinking. Fingers move — the faster the better. While moving, ideas shift and evolve; the text finds its own voice and asserts this independence from its creator. *
I have become a mask
I wear a writer’s mask—a persona a writer dons, which serves both as a shield and a revelation. My current mask explores how the act of writing necessitates a separation from one’s usual self, allowing access to truths, stories, anecdotes that my everyday self might evade. [2]
A mirror reflects the writer’s core, yet the mask represents the myriad fictional identities and voices assumed through characters or narratorial choices.
The fact that a mirror-process happens in self-portraiture as well will lead to further thinking, exploration and writing. Consider Francesca Woodman, american, female, photographer — her masks, ghost, and the material images she created from those.
What is a text? It is something that an author writes. What is an author? Someone who crafts texts. These are cycles—endless, echoing. Yet, to truly write—to articulate deeply, not merely to sketch pixels—it is imperative to become Another: one who is no longer merely you, but who stands slightly beyond the bounds of your everyday life.
Breaking Boundaries
What will you say about this person? What will you say about Your(Other)Self?
What will this entity articulate that you are patiently transcribing?
The philosophical implications of assuming the "Other" through writing are vast. How does adopting an alternate perspective or voice enable writers to ponder and discuss topics they would not typically confront in their personal lives?
By writing, we fabricate alternative narratives that enrich our sense of self. Each story or piece of writing adds layers to our identity, much like characters in a novel, thereby making our existential narrative richer and more complex.
To write freely, it is first necessary to create a few doppelgängers, our other selves, "heteronyms," assuming I align with this notion—an extension of oneself that also dwells apart.
These are the accounts from my doppelgänger, narratives from an Amplified Reality, at times alternative, at times utterly alien.
Final words before my personas go for now:
If we have offended,
It is now the time to ask for forgiveness.
If we have confused you,
It is now the time to clear up the confusion.
If we have made you laugh,
It is now the time to thank us for the laughter.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.” — Puck, Act 5 Scene 1 [4]
Notes
[1] That will remind some of you of the times Barthes and then, very clumsily, Foucault, tried to murder the Author, to no avail. They didn’t quite get to the part that the Author is partitioned as both a Symbolic instance while also being part of the Real — “I write, therefore I am an Author”. I have an interesting essay explaining why they put up that performative act and why it doesn’t seem sustainable to me. As soon as I get it published I will link it back …
[2] For those interested in Lacan, or linguistics, or philosophy, this is a good hub from which to explore how the idea of Trauma would be related to the creation of Art, in it’s most humanly significant sense. Art that doesn’t care about the market, as the Other is not even meant to be there to start with. I think a lot about Francesca Woodman and I’d recommend reading this article for further exploration:
https://www.thecollector.com/francesca-woodman-photographer-facts/
[3] House #3, by Francesca Woodman, from the National Gallery of Art.
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.157359.html
[4] Shakespeare. Do I even need to say it? I hope not, and the rest is silence.
