Multiple-Use Names

“Alan Smithee” is well known as a pseudonym directors use when they don’t want to attach their own name to a film. But have you met Nicolas Bourbaki, Captain Swing, or Luther Blissett? Multiple-use names are collective pseudonyms shared by different people to conceal their identity and perform as the same (sometimes) fictitious entity. While some are used for political reasons (“I am Spartacus!”), others are rooted more in cultural critique of the author or the individual. Wikipedia lists a few other multiple-use names.