Linguistically Speaking

Splitting the Subject and the Self, or: Who Are I?

"A subject is at least a thousand people.
This is why I never ask myself 'who am I?', I ask myself 'who are I?'. [...] Who can say who I are, how many I are, which I is the most I of my I's?"

Hélène Cixous, Preface to The Hélène Cixous Reader, 1994.
barbara... - 8. Mar, 20:49

Mind-boggling...

So there is one subject and a lot of selves?
What exactly is a self? If you split a self, are there several entire selves, or just 'split' ones?

si1ja - 13. Mar, 13:17

I are myself and all my other selves ;-). I'd say that the 'subject' or the 'I' is just a term that promises unity for a concept that is maybe not inherently unitary - there may be different parts or aspects to the subject? Who says that it's normal to have one and not two or several selves that define us as us? (I'm not sure whether it matters if we call them parts of a 'split' self, or whether we see them as a combination of several selves - could be either?).
alux - 13. Mar, 14:11

who I are, psychologically

Ein, mindestens metaphorisches, Unterteilen des Subjekts in mehrere, ist im Umfeld der Kommunikationspsychologie praktisch ausgearbeitet bei F. Schulz von Thun, in "Miteinander Reden" Bd. 3. was ich hier als Empfehlung äußern möchte.

si1ja - 20. Mar, 16:15

Vielen Dank für die Empfehlung! Das Buch ist leider in unserer Bibliothek vergriffen, aber vielleicht find ich es ja noch sonst wo - dann kann ich vielleicht sogar meine Ichs dazu bringen, miteinander zu reden... ;-)
 
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