pseudonym - definition and examples in English

pseudonym - definition and examples in English Definition A pseudonym  (also called a pen name) is a fictitious name assumed by an individual to conceal his or her identity. Adjective: pseudonymous. Writers who use pseudonyms do so for a variety of reasons. For instance, J.K. Rowling, renowned author of the Harry Potter novels, published her first crime novel (The Cuckoos Calling, 2013) under the  pseudonym Robert Galbraith. It has been wonderful to  publish without hype or  expectation, Rowling said when her identify was revealed. American author Joyce Carol Oates (who has also published novels under the pseudonyms Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly) notes that theres something wonderfully liberating, even childlike, about a pen-name: a fictitious name given to the instrument with which you write, and not attached to you (The Faith of a Writer, 2003). See Examples and Observations below. Also see: AllonymName That -nymNicknameProper Name EtymologyFrom the Greek, false name   Examples and Observations Imprisoned for political offenses under Louis XV, Francois Marie Arouet changed his name to Voltaire in order to make a fresh start as a writer. The Rev. C. L. Dodgson used the pseudonym Lewis Carroll because he thought it beneath the dignity of a clergyman and a mathematician to write a book like Alice in Wonderland. Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) and Lucile-Aurore Dupin (George Sand) used mens names because they felt women authors were discriminated against in the 19th century.(Fool-the-Squares. Time, December 15, 1967)Gender and PseudonymsPublishing under male and a-gendered  pseudonyms  was one way in which women writers made their work public, defied social convention, yet also became honorary men in their own day. The Brontà «Ã‚  sisters, George Eliot and even Louisa May Alcott published under pseudonyms. . . . [S]ubmitting work for publication under male or ambiguously gendered pseudonyms afforded  the anonymity necessary to have work judged by its literary merit, rather than on grounds of  gender  difference.(Lizbeth Goodman, with Kasia Boddy and Elaine Showalter, Prose Fiction, Form and Gender.  Literature and Gender, ed. by  Lizbeth Goodman. Routledge, 1996) Alan SmitheeAlan Smithee is probably the most famous pseudonym, invented by the Directors Guild for directors who are so unsatisfied with a studio or producers meddling with their film that they dont think it reflects their creative vision anymore. The first movie to use it was Death of a Gunfighter in 1969, and it has since been used dozens of times.(Gabriel Snyder, Whats in a Name? Slate, January 2, 2007)Pseudonyms of Stephen King and Ian RankinThe hyper-fecund Stephen King wrote as Richard Bachman . . . (until he killed Bachman off, citing cancer of the pseudo-nym as the cause of death). Ian Rankin found himself in a similar spot in the early 1990s, when he was bursting with ideas, but with a publisher wary of putting out more than one book a year. Along came Jack Harveynamed for Jack, Rankins first son, and Harvey, his wifes maiden name.(Jonathan Freedland, Whats in a Pseudonym? The Guardian, March 29, 2006)Pseudonyms and PersonaeA writer may sometimes assume a persona, not simpl y a different name, and publish a work under the guise of that persona. Washington Irving thus took on the character of a Dutch author named Diedrich Knickerbocker for his famous History of New York, while Jonathan Swift published Gullivers Travels as if he actually was Lemuel Gulliver, and described himself in the novels full title as first a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships. The original edition even had a portrait of the fictional author, aged 58.(Adrian Room, Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins. McFarland, 2010) bell hooks, Pseudonym of American Author Gloria Jean WatkinsOne of the many reasons I chose to write using the pseudonym bell hooks, a family name (mother to Sarah Oldham, great-grandmother to me), was to construct a writer-identity that would challenge and subdue all impulses leading me away from speech into silence. I was a young girl buying bubble gum at the corner store when I first really heard the full name bell hooks. I had just talked back to a grown person. Even now I can recall the surprised look, the mocking tones that informed me I must be kin to bell hooksa sharp-tongued woman, a woman who spoke her mind, a woman who was not afraid to talk back. I claimed this legacy of defiance, of will, of courage, affirming my link to female ancestors who were bold and daring in their speech. Unlike my bold and daring mother and grandmother, who were not supportive of talking back, even though they were assertive and powerful in their speech, bell hooks as I discovered, claimed, and i nvented her was my ally, my support.(bell hooks, Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. South End Press, 1989) Pronunciation: SOOD-eh-nim