450 Saudi writers disguise their true identities behind pen names

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: For centuries, the use of pen names has been implemented in writing by various notable Arab and western authors wanting to conceal their true identities. Writers use pseudonyms for a variety of reasons, and many successful, classic writers are more widely known by their pen names than their real ones.

While author pseudonyms are less widely used now, especially in the digital age, there are still a number of reasons why a writer may choose to use one.

A number of bloggers have designated social media accounts to collect cultural contributions from poetic and literary works written under pen names in anonymous accounts.

The authors preferred to disguise their true identities for various reasons.

These bloggers confirmed that their efforts come to preserve literary works and posts on social media and to record them in the names of their authors.

These attempts have brought back the issue of resorting to writing with pseudonyms to the fore, which is an old matter as old as history, since Arabic literature reached us from deep history, and since we received Western literature.

We all know Al Farazdaq, (Arab poet born c. 641, Yamāmah region, Arabia—died c. 728 or 730), famous for his satires in a period when poetry was an important political instrument, but few know he was poet Hammam bin Ghaleb bin Sa’sa Al Tamimi.

In turn, the poet Muslim Ibn Al Walid, c. 748 AD– 207 823 AD), who was among the finest poets of the early Abbasid period, was known by the pen name Sari’a Al Ghawani (The One Knocked Down by the Fair), and the poet Thabet Ibn Jaber was known by the pen name Tate of Evil.

Most of us know the writer Voltaire, but far fewer know he is the French writer François-Marie Aroye.

Critic Abdul Razzaq Al Qash'ami says Arab writers and journalists used pen names in the past for fear of Ottoman oppression, and then the matter later turned into something like a cultural habit.

He added, "The first person who worked in deciphering literature was the writer Mustafa Al Sebaei, then Abdul Quddus Al Ansari followed him in his magazine Al Manhal, which he published in Medinah during the Hijri nineties, pointing out that" one of the factors that pushed the intellectual to conceal behind a pen name, was backwardness of societies, the absence of educational and cultural systems, and the intellectuals’ wish to write while keeping their real identity a secret.

Al Qash'ami states in his book “The Pseudonyms of Saudi Writers,” he collected 450 pen names for the great writers of his time.

The number appears to be large, reflecting the great social concerns of those working in literature about misunderstanding and troubles they faced.

Women and limitations

The educated women often resorted to the use of pen names to set free from societal restrictions.

Critic Faisal Elias confirmed that the artistic community also witnessed an increase in the use of pen names, and as a result the old artistic legacy was lost due to the concealment of the owners of many of the musical works that spread in the 1960s with unknown names, including poetic texts and lyrical artworks, which gave way to the plagiarism of old melodies and songs.

He stressed a number of famous poetry and lyrical art first appeared with fake names, including "Makhawi Al Layl (Entwined with Nights), the artist Khaled Abdul Rahman, Asir Al Shuq (The Love Captive), the poet Prince Nawwaf bin Faisal, and Caller, Prince Saad bin Saud, as well as many others, such as Son of Al Sharqiya, Rahima Lover, and others who have produced works of art, while hidden behind pen names.

Elias spelled out the reasons why these authors used pen names and not their actual names.

They wanted to try something new. When a famous author known for writing a specific type of novel wanted to tackle a different genre, they chose to adopt an assumed name.

Or they couldn’t publish under their real name. This was especially the case for female authors, who could not get published because they were women. They adopted alter egos and different pen names to write what they wanted while keeping their real identity a secret, he said.