J C
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Thank you for answering all these questions! I especially appreciate that, as a reader, I can't tell that you "build [the story] backwards, starting with the characters and their story and building the world around them". Question time! Re-read Mirror Dance; what theory of mind did you draw from to describe Mark?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Glad you're enjoying my work!
I was aware of the mid-20th-C. pop-sci theories of multiple personality disorder viz. The Seven Faces of Eve, and that the earlier versions were largely debunked, but the symptoms had been shifted to what is presently typed "dissociative disorders". A friend (and test reader) of mine had a version of this, a type of protective deep dissociation/code-switching-of-presentation under stress; some long conversations with her were enlightening in a more global fashion. She described it as feeling from the inside not so much as a split or separation, but a retreat of some aspects of herself down long dim corridors while other parts took front and center.
With that frame, and being more than a touch dissociative myself (it's a pretty writerly thing), the rest of Mark came from a deep dive into my own head. So Mark was more generated than constructed, less theory than data, which may account for his character-density.
However Mark appeared, he was apparently artistically convincing enough that a large block quote from Mirror Dance was used illustratively by a psychological scholar in an article on the subject in Chapter 53 of The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry (2013, Oxford University Press) "Personal Identity and Identity Disorders" by Stephen R. L. Clark.
The author footnotes it thus: "...[Mark's] broken personalities allow him to cope; at once distinct centres of consciousness and servants of the whole. Whether there really are such experiences remain uncertain; at least the story, and its more immediate and maybe-factual cognates provide metaphors for living."
How this got past peer review, I do not know... But certainly one of my more flattering pieces of reader-response.
Ta, L.
Glad you're enjoying my work!
I was aware of the mid-20th-C. pop-sci theories of multiple personality disorder viz. The Seven Faces of Eve, and that the earlier versions were largely debunked, but the symptoms had been shifted to what is presently typed "dissociative disorders". A friend (and test reader) of mine had a version of this, a type of protective deep dissociation/code-switching-of-presentation under stress; some long conversations with her were enlightening in a more global fashion. She described it as feeling from the inside not so much as a split or separation, but a retreat of some aspects of herself down long dim corridors while other parts took front and center.
With that frame, and being more than a touch dissociative myself (it's a pretty writerly thing), the rest of Mark came from a deep dive into my own head. So Mark was more generated than constructed, less theory than data, which may account for his character-density.
However Mark appeared, he was apparently artistically convincing enough that a large block quote from Mirror Dance was used illustratively by a psychological scholar in an article on the subject in Chapter 53 of The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry (2013, Oxford University Press) "Personal Identity and Identity Disorders" by Stephen R. L. Clark.
The author footnotes it thus: "...[Mark's] broken personalities allow him to cope; at once distinct centres of consciousness and servants of the whole. Whether there really are such experiences remain uncertain; at least the story, and its more immediate and maybe-factual cognates provide metaphors for living."
How this got past peer review, I do not know... But certainly one of my more flattering pieces of reader-response.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Kate Davenport
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I wonder how much interest Miles is taking in his half-sisters and one third (?) brothers, since they are so far away physically and so different in age. I have had several friends with siblings and half siblings far away physically and/or chronologically and they run the gamut from being very close, to being cordial acquaintances, to being essentially strangers.
Richard
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I love Miles, flaws and all, as much as it is possible to love a fictional character. However, I find Cordelia the much more compelling character. While Miles’ intelligence is unparalleled, Cordelia has a consistent wisdom that Miles seems to mostly hit at apogee. And, from my point of view, intelligence and critical thinking are major factors in acquiring wisdom. Thoughts?
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