Multiple-use name

A multiple-use name is a name used by many different people to protect anonymity.^[1] It is a strategy that has been adopted by many unconnected radical and cultural groups, where the construct of personal identity has been criticised.^{[citation needed]}

One of the first multiple-use names was that of Nicolas Bourbaki which first appeared in 1935 and was used by multiple (mainly French) mathematicians to exemplify the collective effort that goes into mathematics.

The name Alan Smithee has been in use in Hollywood since 1968 by directors who wish to disavow creative credit for a film where control has been taken away from them.

Other multiple identities in use include Geoffrey Cohen, Monty Cantsin and Karen Eliot. These multiple-use names were developed and popularized in the 1970s and 1980s in artistic subcultures like Mail Art and Neoism^[2]

The avant-garde pre-texts include the pseudonym Rrose Sélavy jointly used by Dada artist Marcel Duchamp and the surrealist poet Robert Desnos, but references in other realms of culture go back much further, e.g. Buddha (which is both a proper noun and a condition that may be achieved by anyone), Poor Konrad (the collective name adopted by all Swabian peasants during their rebellion against taxes in 1514), Captain Ludd, Robin Hood and Captain Swing. As to poetry, there are precedents such as Taliesin.

Examples of multiple-use names

Anonymous Anna Adamolo Aydem Azmikara, an anonymous distributed identity Luther Blissett Joe Bloggs Nicolas Bourbaki George P. Burdell Monty Cantsin Geoffrey Cohen Bob Dobbs, or J.R. "Bob" Dobbs (Cult Leader) Founder of the Church of the SubGenius David Davidson Monsieur Dupont Karen Eliot Linda Green (Robosigner) Janez Janša Karen Karnak Bing Killsmith

Poor Konrad Ned Ludd[1] Netochka Nezvanova Robert Paulson Omar Ravenhurst - a pseudonym for Kerry Thornley which he recommended other people use for their own purposes Amanda B. Reckonwith Rrose Sélavy John Smith Alan Smithee Spartacus Jack Straw (rebel leader) Captain Swing Taliesin Georg Paul Thomann Waldo Wally Washington Irving

See also

• John Doe, John Q. Public
• Kilroy was here, signature
• placeholder name

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Home, Stewart (1997). Mind Invaders: A Reader in Psychic Warfare, Cultural Sabotage and Semiotic Terrorism. Indiana University: Serpent's Tail. p. 119. ISBN 1852425601. http://books.google.com/books?id=xdXfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Multiple-use+name%22&dq=%22Multiple-use+name%22&hl=en&ei=OIQoTfCWNYGBlAfIm7WQAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg. 
2. ^ Cf. autonome a.f.r.i.k.a gruppe, "All or None? Multiple Names, Imaginary Persons, Collective Myths", eipcp.net.