Avatars, egregores and the writing of the self1
Journal of Writing in Creative Practice October 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1386/jwcp_00055_1 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractFictions can become real when enough people invest in them, producing a collective entity—an egregore—that speaks back to its creators as if it had an independent voice. This phenomenon reveals other forms of agency operating beneath the fiction of the self. Writing or rewriting the self is a creative and pragmatic task for which resources can be drawn from magickal practice, literary experimentation, neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and schizoanalysis.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Agency philosophy Task project management Creative writing Aesthetics Sociology |
| Key finding | Argues that collective investment in fictions can produce autonomous entities ('egregores') that reveal deeper agencies behind the self, and that practices from magick, literature, neuroscience, and psychoanalysis offer resources for rewriting the self. |
Abstract
My article is concerned with the investment in – and reality of – fictions. It looks at the magical idea of the egregore or of an entity, broadly understood, that is produced through collective investment and then speaks back to its authors as if it came from someplace else. At stake here is also an investigation into other kinds of agency – other ‘deep assignments’ – that are always already at work behind the fiction of the self. Important in this enquiry is an idea of writing – or re-writing – the self. Indeed, my claim is that various fields – from magickal practice to literary experimentation and from neuroscience to psychoanalysis and schizoanalysis – offer up important resources for this creative and pragmatic task.