Adventures in Wikipedia | Pt. 1

Today, I came across the word heteronym when reading To Write as if Already Dead by Kate Zambreno. I knew I had seen this word before, but I could not remember what it meant. I was reading the book in the kindle app on my iPhone, so I highlighted the word and went to the Wikipedia entry for it.

When I went to the Wikipedia page, I saw a message I'd seen a lot of times before. It informed me that Wikipedia needs money to operate.

I use Wikipedia all the time. Usually, when I see this message, I'll donate something. Today, I set up a recurring donation.

Heteronym:

If you're interested, here is what Wikipedia says about heteronyms (literature).

The literary concept of the heteronym refers to one or more imaginary character(s) created by a writer to write in different styles. Heteronyms differ from pen names (or pseudonyms, from the Greek words for "false" and "name") in that the latter are just false names, while the former are characters that have their own supposed physiques, biographies, and writing styles.^[1]

Heteronyms were named and developed by the Portuguese writer and poet Fernando Pessoa in the early 20th century, but they were thoroughly explored by the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard in the 19th century and have also been used by other writers.

Pessoa:

I've never read anything by Pessoa, but I've had his work on my radar for years. Maybe I'll get to reading him more in 2023.