What's the correct term?
June 7, 2020 4:10 AM Subscribe
Is there a correct term for an author who identifies themselves with a description of their status alone?
eg
—A concerned parent;
—A representative of the council;
—A lady.
Pseudonym doesn't feel right to me, but I may be wrong. It's an early nineteenth century text I'm writing about. I'm using British English.
The sentence is something like 'The author never identified herself and used the [appellation/handle/moniker/pseudonym] 'A lady' on all editions of her work.'
Lots of words will do, but is there a right one, and if there isn't, what would you go for?
eg
—A concerned parent;
—A representative of the council;
—A lady.
Pseudonym doesn't feel right to me, but I may be wrong. It's an early nineteenth century text I'm writing about. I'm using British English.
The sentence is something like 'The author never identified herself and used the [appellation/handle/moniker/pseudonym] 'A lady' on all editions of her work.'
Lots of words will do, but is there a right one, and if there isn't, what would you go for?
Response by poster: To be clear, this is a book I am writing about, where the author identifies herself on the title page as 'A lady'.
posted by einekleine at 4:24 AM on June 7, 2020
posted by einekleine at 4:24 AM on June 7, 2020
That's such an interesting question, I had some ideas for how to look for it. I wondered it it might just be some sort of generic pseudonym, and that led me to both Anonymous, which I thought might be it, but then I wandered on to Placeholder Name, which seemed like it might be close, too, and then to Notname, which seems even more appropriate.
So... it sure seems that there ought to be an exact word/phrase, but I'm not entirely sure it's one of these, and I'm very curious to see if anyone turns up a more specific term.
posted by stormyteal at 4:50 AM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
So... it sure seems that there ought to be an exact word/phrase, but I'm not entirely sure it's one of these, and I'm very curious to see if anyone turns up a more specific term.
posted by stormyteal at 4:50 AM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
The author never identified herself and used the persona 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the self reference 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the phrase 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the tag 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the identity 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the characterization 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the personality 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
posted by at at 5:25 AM on June 7, 2020
The author never identified herself and used the self reference 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the phrase 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the tag 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the identity 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the characterization 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
The author never identified herself and used the personality 'A lady' on all editions of her work.
posted by at at 5:25 AM on June 7, 2020
Depending on what you want to imply or connote, I think of these things as "Everyman" or "Everywoman" names.
I.e., "—A concerned parent" is choosing to minimize his/her unique name/concerns in an effort to elevate the concern they write about as more universal than just his/her own, as if to say, any concerned parent feels this way. This meaning seems to flow from the 16th C. morality play "The Summoning of Everyman," which follows "an ordinary, flawed human being representing all mankind." But depending on your character, it can perversely connote the exact opposite, as in "My concerns or content should be elevated because in addition to being a unique individual, I am also A concerned parent or A lady."
posted by cocoagirl at 5:28 AM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
I.e., "—A concerned parent" is choosing to minimize his/her unique name/concerns in an effort to elevate the concern they write about as more universal than just his/her own, as if to say, any concerned parent feels this way. This meaning seems to flow from the 16th C. morality play "The Summoning of Everyman," which follows "an ordinary, flawed human being representing all mankind." But depending on your character, it can perversely connote the exact opposite, as in "My concerns or content should be elevated because in addition to being a unique individual, I am also A concerned parent or A lady."
posted by cocoagirl at 5:28 AM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Pseudonym is probably closest, but I agree that it sounds not quite right. I've seen this phrased to avoid "pseudonym" by using the adverb "pseudonymously". In your case, something like, "The author never identified herself and published all editions of her work pseudonymously as 'A lady'." Searching "pseudonymously as a" will turn up examples very similar to your situation, if you need the additional validation.
posted by ddbeck at 5:43 AM on June 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by ddbeck at 5:43 AM on June 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'd sidestep the need for a word for this by letting context do the work instead:
The author identified herself only as "A lady" on all editions of her work.
posted by flabdablet at 6:49 AM on June 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
The author identified herself only as "A lady" on all editions of her work.
posted by flabdablet at 6:49 AM on June 7, 2020 [5 favorites]
I'm not sure I'd avoid the term Anonymous. The anonymous author chose the label 'a Lady.'
posted by theora55 at 8:09 AM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 8:09 AM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
I might go with “epithet,” which is how I think of the terms that aren’t formal titles that often get attached to certain people’s names (typically in newspapers), like “hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons” or “Serbian warlord Slobodan Milosevic.” Here, you have epithets without names, but they could just as easily include names: “concerned parent Jane Smith,” etc.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:04 AM on June 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:04 AM on June 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
"Epithet" is what I was thinking as a historical matter, but I think in contemporary usage that word is generally perceived as derogatory as a result of its appearance in the phrase "racial epithet." I'm not sure what's wrong with "pseudonym," although it's not as specific as you might like. When I was studying early print I probably would've just said "wrote under the name."
posted by praemunire at 9:59 AM on June 7, 2020
posted by praemunire at 9:59 AM on June 7, 2020
The word is 'sobriquet'.
posted by MinPin at 12:21 PM on June 7, 2020 [13 favorites]
posted by MinPin at 12:21 PM on June 7, 2020 [13 favorites]
Agree with MinPin.
It's not a pseudonym because the description is assumed to be accurate.
posted by glasseyes at 12:53 PM on June 7, 2020
It's not a pseudonym because the description is assumed to be accurate.
posted by glasseyes at 12:53 PM on June 7, 2020
To clarify, pseudonym translates as 'false name.' In the usage quoted above it's normal to assume the writer is in fact a lady. If they are not a lady then writing under that name would be pseudonymous.
Further, 'a lady' is too vague and general to be an alias unless it were to acquire a connection to a specific person known for specific things. Like if there were a particular cat burglar, identity unknown, who left mysterious notes at the scene of the crime signed 'a lady.' That would be that person's alias.
Fascinating question!
posted by glasseyes at 1:07 PM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Further, 'a lady' is too vague and general to be an alias unless it were to acquire a connection to a specific person known for specific things. Like if there were a particular cat burglar, identity unknown, who left mysterious notes at the scene of the crime signed 'a lady.' That would be that person's alias.
Fascinating question!
posted by glasseyes at 1:07 PM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Just because nobody's mentioned it so far, I'd throw nom de plume into the mix as one of the options I would have considered.
posted by spielzebub at 2:52 PM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by spielzebub at 2:52 PM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'll also through out soi disant, although it can have a negative connotation.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 1:06 AM on June 8, 2020
posted by ereshkigal45 at 1:06 AM on June 8, 2020
What a fascinating question!
Is this a case where readers of her work are expected to know that "A lady" is the same person in all her work? If so, then either pseudonym or nom de plume are correct.
Otherwise pseudonym or nom de plume don't quite work because those are usually distinct rather than categories. You would expect there to be a 1:1 mapping between a real person and a nom de plume over time. I would also put alias in this category.
I don't quite agree with glasseyes. If I wrote under "The Dutchman", I would consider that a pseudonym even though I am one.
That's not quite the same as your other examples though because if someone writes into a local newspaper as "a concerned parent" there is no expectation that they will continue to write in the future under the same label. It's a one and done description.
soi disant means self-described with the implication that it's not widely accepted, the implication of a soi disant lady is that she actually isn't a lady at all despite her self description.
posted by atrazine at 3:22 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Is this a case where readers of her work are expected to know that "A lady" is the same person in all her work? If so, then either pseudonym or nom de plume are correct.
Otherwise pseudonym or nom de plume don't quite work because those are usually distinct rather than categories. You would expect there to be a 1:1 mapping between a real person and a nom de plume over time. I would also put alias in this category.
I don't quite agree with glasseyes. If I wrote under "The Dutchman", I would consider that a pseudonym even though I am one.
That's not quite the same as your other examples though because if someone writes into a local newspaper as "a concerned parent" there is no expectation that they will continue to write in the future under the same label. It's a one and done description.
soi disant means self-described with the implication that it's not widely accepted, the implication of a soi disant lady is that she actually isn't a lady at all despite her self description.
posted by atrazine at 3:22 AM on June 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
The examples you give are all about claimed membership of a particular group or demographic, signaling legitimacy of perspective, stating which aspect or role is relevant. I don’t know which word would convey this, though. (In cryptography, this could be an anonymous credential, or a group signature, or an attribute-based credential.)
posted by meijusa at 3:25 AM on June 8, 2020
posted by meijusa at 3:25 AM on June 8, 2020
As so often is the way, I came across the word a day after reading this AskMe. From the 1944 story Death And the Compass by Jorge Luis Borges (translated by Andrew Hurley):
"Red Scharlach, whose second sobriquet is Scharlach the Dandy ... had sworn upon his honour to kill Lonnrott."
posted by MinPin at 6:09 AM on June 8, 2020
"Red Scharlach, whose second sobriquet is Scharlach the Dandy ... had sworn upon his honour to kill Lonnrott."
posted by MinPin at 6:09 AM on June 8, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, some fantastic answers. I *think* I'm going to use sobriquet but haven't quite decided yet.
I really should write a FPP about the author. She published two books, the first one was hugely successful and ran to many editions over the nineteenth century. She identified herself as 'A lady' on the title page of all editions. In her foreword she called herself 'the authoress'.
I think she used 'A lady' to underline her suitability in authoring a book designed for educating children.
In her second book, she referred to herself on the title page as 'the authoress of' her previous book!
She was identified many years later by her nephew. As I said, I should do a FPP.
posted by einekleine at 12:13 AM on June 10, 2020
I really should write a FPP about the author. She published two books, the first one was hugely successful and ran to many editions over the nineteenth century. She identified herself as 'A lady' on the title page of all editions. In her foreword she called herself 'the authoress'.
I think she used 'A lady' to underline her suitability in authoring a book designed for educating children.
In her second book, she referred to herself on the title page as 'the authoress of' her previous book!
She was identified many years later by her nephew. As I said, I should do a FPP.
posted by einekleine at 12:13 AM on June 10, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:22 AM on June 7, 2020