Illeism

Illeism /ˈɪli.ɪzəm/ (from Latin ille meaning "he, that") is the act of referring to oneself in the third person instead of first person. It is sometimes used in literature as a stylistic device. In real-life usage, illeism can reflect a number of different stylistic intentions or involuntary circumstances.

In literature

Early literature such as Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico or Xenophon's Anabasis, both ostensibly non-fictional accounts of wars led by their authors, used illeism to impart an air of objective impartiality, which included justifications of the author's actions. In this way personal bias is presented, albeit dishonestly, as objectivity.

Illeism can also be used in literature to provide a twist, wherein the identity of the narrator as the main character is hidden from the reader until later in the story (e.g. one Arsène Lupin story where the narrator is Arsène Lupin but hides his own identity); the use of third person implies external observation. A similar use is when the author injects himself into his own third person narrative story as a character, such as Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation, Douglas Coupland in JPod, and Clive Cussler's novels, beginning with Dragon.

It can also be used as a device to illustrate the feeling of "being outside one's body and watching things happen", a psychological disconnect resulting from dissonance either from trauma such as childhood physical or sexual abuse, or from past outbursts that cannot be reconciled with the individual's own self-image. The same kind of objective distance can be employed for other purposes. Theologian Richard B. Hays writes an essay where he challenges earlier findings that he disagrees with: "These were the findings of one Richard B. Hays, and the newer essay treats the earlier work and earlier author at arms' length."[1]

A common device in science fiction is for robots, computers, and other artificial life to refer to themselves in the third person, e.g. "This unit is malfunctioning" or "Number Five is alive" (said by Johnny Five in Short Circuit), to suggest that these creatures are not truly self-aware, or that they separate their consciousness from their physical form.

Illeism may also be used to show idiocy, as with the character Mongo in Blazing Saddles, e.g. "Mongo like candy" and "Mongo only pawn in game of life"; though it may also show innocent simplicity, as it does with Harry Potter's Dobby the Elf ("Dobby has come to protect, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door").

In everyday speech

Illeism in everyday speech can have a variety of intentions depending on context. One common usage is to impart humility, a common practice in feudal societies and other societies where honorifics are important to observe ("Your servant awaits your orders"), as well as in Master–Slave relationships ("This slave needs to be punished"). Recruits in the military, mostly United States Marine Corps recruits, are also often made to refer to themselves in the third person, such as "this recruit", in order to reduce the sense of individuality and enforce the idea of the group being more important than the self. The use of illeism in this context imparts a sense of lack of self, implying a diminished importance of the speaker in relation to the addressee or to a larger whole.

Conversely, in different contexts, illeism can be used to reinforce self-promotion, as used to sometimes comic effect by Bob Dole throughout his political career ("When the president is ready to deploy, Bob Dole is ready to lead the fight on the Senate Floor", Bob Dole speaking about the Strategic Defense Initiative at the NCPAC convention, 1987). This was particularly made notable during the United States presidential election of 1996 and lampooned broadly in popular media for years afterwards.

Deepanjana Pal of Firstpost noted that speaking in the third person "is a classic technique used by generations of Bollywood scriptwriters to establish a character's aristocracy, power and gravitas".[2] Conversely, third person self-referral can be associated with self-irony and not taking oneself too seriously (since the excessive use of pronoun "I" is often seen as a sign of narcissism and egocentrism),[3] as well as with eccentricity in general.

In certain Eastern religions, like Hinduism or Buddhism, illeism is sometimes seen as a sign of enlightenment, since through it, an individual detaches his eternal self (atman) from his bodily form. Known illeists of that sort include Swami Ramdas,[4] Ma Yoga Laxmi,[5] Anandamayi Ma,[6] and Mata Amritanandamayi.[7] Jnana yoga encourages its practitioners to refer to themselves in the third person.[8] Marilyn Monroe referred to herself in the third person to distance her on-screen persona from her actual self.[9][10]

Young children in Japan commonly refer to themselves by their own name. This is due to the Japanese way of speaking, in which referring to another in the third person is considered more polite than using any of the Japanese words for "you", like Omae. As a Japanese child grows older they normally switch to using first person references. Japanese idols also may refer to themselves in the third person so to give off the feeling of childlike cuteness.

Notable illeists

Real people

Politics

Sports

Entertainment

Religion and spirituality

Other

Fictional characters

Books

  • Major Bagstock, the apoplectic retired Indian army officer from Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son (1848) refers to himself solely as Joseph, Old Joe, Joey B, Bagstock, Josh, J.B., Anthony Bagstock, and other variants of his own name.[54]
  • Captain Hook in J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan and Wendy (1911): "'Better for Hook,' he cried, 'if he had had less ambition!' It was in his darkest hours only that he referred to himself in the third person."
  • Gollum from The Lord of the Rings (1954–5) spoke in an idiosyncratic manner, often referring to himself in the third person, and frequently talked to himself—"through having no one else to speak to", as Tolkien put it in The Hobbit.[55]
  • Charlie from the acclaimed novel Flowers for Algernon (1959) speaks in third person in the "being outside one's body and watching things happen" manner in his flashbacks to his abusive and troubled childhood suffering from phenylketonuria.[56]
  • Boday, a quirky female artist from Jack Chalker's Changewinds trilogy (1987–8).[57]
  • Y. T., a teenage girl from Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson.[58]
  • Bast the Wood Elf from the The Council Wars series by John Ringo.
  • The healer and wisewoman Magda Digby from the Owen Archer series (1993–2019) by Candace Robb.[59]
  • Jaqen H'ghar, an assassin of the Faceless Men in the fantasy suite A Song of Ice and Fire (1996–), consistently refers to himself ("a man") and sometimes the person he is addressing (i.e. "a girl") in third person.
  • Dobby the Elf in the Harry Potter series (1997–2007).
  • Ramona, the housekeeper and mentor in Silver Ravenwolf's Witches Chillers series (2000–1).[60]
  • The old man Nakata from Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore (2002).[61][62]

Comics

Marvel Comics
  • Doctor Doom is known for more often than not referring to himself as "Doom" instead of "me" or "I".[63]
  • The Hulk uses illeism while saying his iconic "Hulk smash!" or variations thereof.[63]
  • Mantis almost always refers to herself as "Mantis", "she", and "this one"; this has to do with her upbringing at the Temple of the Priests of Pama, an alien pacifistic sect heavily inspired by real-life Eastern religious movements.[64]

Television

Film

Manga and anime

  • Sayuri Kurata from Kanon (1999–2000) speaks this way in order to separate herself from her past treatment of her little brother, which she regrets.[79]
  • Megumi Noda, aka Nodame, the title character from Nodame Cantabile (2001–9)[80]
  • Ryūgū Rena from Higurashi When They Cry (2006) refers to herself in the third person when speaking to others, but oddly reverts to the first person when speaking to herself.
  • Asami Nakaoka from Highschool of the Dead (2010) habitually refers to herself in third person[81]
  • Rika Shiguma from Haganai (2010–2015)[82]
  • PallaPalla, from Sailor Moon
  • Sesshomaru, from InuYasha
  • Hana-chan, from Ojamajo Doremi, refers to herself in the third person, even saying "chan" along with her name.
  • Candice from Pokémon. This is actually a translation error, as referring to oneself by name instead of pronoun is seen as "feminine" in the Japanese language, and is fairly common.
  • Ed from Cowboy Bebop.
  • Subaru Kujo, a gender-ambiguous character from Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
  • Alien Guts, from Ultra Seven
  • Yuiko Hawatari from Loveless, until she is taught to use the first person.
  • Misa Amane from Death Note occasionally calls herself "Misa-Misa". (omitted or reduced in some localizations)
  • Mayuri Shiina from Steins;Gate sometimes refers to herself as "Mayushii".
  • Rena Ryuguu from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, partly to stop people from using her real name (Reina).
  • Juvia Lockser from Fairy Tail (Speaks in First Person in the English Dub)
  • Asuza Shiratori, from Ranma, does this as a way to reinforce a "cute" stereotype.

Cartoons

Video games

See also

References

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  12. See the Wikisource of the book: s:The Education of Henry Adams
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  28. Taibbi, Matt (2010-03-02). "A Field Guide to Sports Egos". Men's Journal. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2012-12-06. They actually have a word for what Rickey Henderson is: illeist.
  29. "Doug Robinson: Karl Malone is one of a kind". Deseret News. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2012-12-06. Maybe Malone didn't even know he was the one who was saying those things, because he tended to talk about himself as another being, in third person. Or maybe he was just schizophrenic, whatever.
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  32. Shefter, Adam (2011-02-27). "Sources: Cam Newton thrown for loop". ESPN.com. His comment drew such a reaction because some say his swagger teeters on the edge of pure arrogance. In roughly 12 minutes at the podium, he referred to himself in the third person three times. When asked if some mistake his confidence for cockiness, he said: "I'm not sure, but I'm a confident person, and it was instilled in myself at an early age to believe in myself".
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  81. Moody, Allen (2013-11-05). "Haganai – Review". THEM Anime Reviews. Like Tim, I didn't like most of the other characters, especially Rika, whose tics (speaking of herself in the third person, and imagining sexual situations in the damnedest places- for example, in mecha manga) kept making me shout "Make it STOP!!!!"
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