OK, so, "gaslighting" is when someone manipulates a person into doubting their perception of external events. The husband in 'Gas Light' flickers the lights, but insists to the wife that the lights aren't flickering, causing her to feel like she's going crazy ...
... but is there a term for manipulatively denying, distorting and undermining the reality of someone's internal experience?
"I think X."
"No, you don't think X. You think Y. You just don't know you think Y. I know better what you think than you do."
"I think X."
"No, you don't think X. You think Y. You just don't know you think Y. I know better what you think than you do."
I'm trying to put into words what has been BY FAR the most distressing & disorienting part of publishing a book. Not critical reviews, per se, but reviews that insist that I *really* think something else other than what I know myself to think.
Here, for example, is a review (by the incisive & thoughtful @daphmarts) that is critical, but doesn't impute beliefs to me that I don't recognize as my own. onlinelibrary.wiley.com
I'm really bothered by the feeling produced by these funhouse mirror reviews that claim to speak my mind for me, which I suppose is the point ... but it's also piqued my curiosity, as a phenomenon. I want to name it.
In any case, if you have ever had the feeling, in a personal or professional situation, that someone is trying to make you "admit" that you "really" think or feel something that ... you don't really think or feel, and you would be up for sharing the details with me, DM/email me
Suggestion from DMs (most of which, so far, are about bad reviewers and bad boyfriends): Jedi-mind-tricking
Another suggestion from DMs: shadowboxing. Which has the added advantage of also immediately calling to mind a Fiona Apple song.
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