[INFJ] INFJ writers

[Cronkle]

Hello, I'm wondering which writers throughout history are INFJs.

To me, although he was an actor chiefly, Sidney Poiter's autobiography shows him as a super INFJ. He talks often -- and abstractly -- about love, connection, and "higher powers" (not only God but honor, dignity, etc) And, coupled with the fact that he would not take on a role unless it aligned with his idea of what a black person should be ideally, he seems so INFJ it hurts. (What with the idealism, stubborness)

Please don't post if you don't have a reason why you think the writer is an INFJ.

(Yes, I'm aware there's multiple "DN Author List" threads, but this is strictly for INFJ writers and reasons why. Different. )

 

[Qre:us]

A type consisting of some of my favourite writers...

Behold the creative beauty of NiFeTi:

James Joyce

Dante Alighieri

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Khalil Gibran

T.S. Eliot

Kurt Vonnegut

William Blake - only through the impression of Auguries of Innocence

 

[Cronkle]

Why do you say those are INFJs? Be specific.

 

[disregard]

Dostoevsky.

You can clearly see the Ti in his novels (excellent arguments on morality, religion, etc)
Ni abounds.. the mystique of his characters exemplifies this.
The plots contain a great deal of Fe between characters.

 

[Cronkle]

Dostoevsky.

You can clearly see the Ti in his novels (excellent arguments on morality, religion, etc)
Ni abounds.. the mystique of his characters exemplifies this.
The plots contain a great deal of Fe between characters.

I don't usually like to read books in translations since I think a lot gets lost in translation, but I suppose a good translator could do him justice. Do you know of any good translations?

 

[cascadeco]

I don't usually like to read books in translations since I think a lot gets lost in translation, but I suppose a good translator could do him justice. Do you know of any good translations?

Oh, man..you haven't read Dostoyevsky? He's like the epitome of INFJ. Love his books. But, I'm not particular on the translator/translation - I've read 3 of his books, (probably was a different translator for each, I don't pay attention to that sort of thing) and all of them screamed INFJ and I readily related to the style of writing/perceptions/thought/analysis.

Milan Kundera is another writer that tends to be unquestioned in his INFJ-ness.

I'll add Salmon Rushdie as well. His books are so utterly metaphorical and other-worldly/mystical, as well as more big-picture/society/culture-based, conceptually. More purely NiFe, I think...not much evidence of Ti as you can note in Dostoyevsky.

 

[Sniffles]

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

 

[Cronkle]

Milan Kundera is another writer that tends to be unquestioned in his INFJ-ness.

Why?

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Why?

 

[Fidelia]

I always thought A.S. was some kind of an NT.

 

[Sniffles]

Why?

From studying his life, including the memoirs of his first wife, along with many of his writings - some of which I was just glancing through yesterday actually. That was the general impression I got.

 

[Fidelia]

That book written by his first wife is really interesting! Good luck with "glancing through" a book 3-5 inches thick!

 

[Sniffles]

I always thought A.S. was some kind of an NT.

Yes I have to admit that at times I often would classify him as NT, especially by going by many personal descriptions of him. However in the one biography by Joseph Pearce, which includes interviews both with Solzhenitsyn himself and his sons, a completely different picture emerges.

One of the sons interviewed(forget which one off hand) noted how often people would mischaracterise his father as a cold distant person, but was in reality(and especially up close) a rather kind, warm, passionate person.

Here's one of the interviews Pearce did with Solzhenitsyn:
An Interview with Alexander Solzhenitsyn

 

[disregard]

I don't usually like to read books in translations since I think a lot gets lost in translation, but I suppose a good translator could do him justice. Do you know of any good translations?

My favorite translation is by Pavear and Volokhonsky (Everyman's Library). I have them all in hardcover.

 

[Cronkle]

My favorite translation is by Pavear and Volokhonsky (Everyman's Library). I have them all in hardcover.

Thank you.

I put a hold of Notes From the Underground, a good place to start I would say since it's so short.

 

[disregard]

Eh, it's my least favorite, by far. Demons is the best.

 

[Lotr246]

Behold the creative beauty of NiFeTi:

James Joyce

Dante Alighieri

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Khalil Gibran

T.S. Eliot

Kurt Vonnegut

William Blake - only through the impression of Auguries of Innocence

I agree with all of these. I'm glad Joyce makes your mouth water. Mine does too.

 

[Space_Oddity]

Behold the creative beauty of NiFeTi:

James Joyce

Dante Alighieri

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Khalil Gibran

T.S. Eliot

Kurt Vonnegut

William Blake - only through the impression of Auguries of Innocence

I disagree with Marquez being an INFJ. I think he's almost certainly an INFP. The unrestrained, spontaneous "story-telling" is more NFP than NFJ; he sees stories in vivid pictures and metaphores, not symbols, and his imagination is directed outwards (Ne), not inwards (Ni). I agree with the rest being Ni-doms, although I'm not sure if all of them are INFJs.

Some INFJ writers whose type I'm pretty sure of are Dostoyevski, William Faulkner, Angela Carter, Milan Kundera and William Blake. The first thing to notice would be their frequent use of symbols and a great "compactness" of their works; their imagination is directed inwards, it specifies, not amplifies. Also, Kundera plays a lot with all possible associations of certain words/details, which I've been told is also a Ni thing. As opposed to INTJ writers, INFJ writers' works tend to have a great emotional charge.

J.K. Rowling is also an INFJ - one could see it in the way she takes old "ingredients" and makes something absolutely new out of them. Her biography and interviews show her as a total INFJ too.

 

[neptunesnet]

I've always thought James Joyce, Marquez, and Kurt Vonnegut were INFP.

There was another thread on here somewhere arguing whether James Joyce was one or not, but the general census was that he most definitely was.

*shrug*

It's hard to say.

 

[Space_Oddity]

There was another thread on here somewhere arguing whether James Joyce was one or not, but the general census was that he most definitely was one.

I remember a thread like that, but I was under the impression that the general consensus was that he was a Ni-dom, and most likely an INFJ? I've only read a few excerpts from Ulysses, but I vote for an INFJ also. It's not typical for INFPs to write books which are possible to be understood only with an extra key for symbols (Well, a really smart INFJ in our class seemed to understand Ulysses off-hand, but I confess I really can't.)

I agree about Marquez. I haven't read anything by Vonnegut yet so I can't tell.

 

[the state i am in]

Behold the creative beauty of NiFeTi:

James Joyce

Dante Alighieri

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Khalil Gibran

T.S. Eliot

Kurt Vonnegut

William Blake - only through the impression of Auguries of Innocence

vonnegut, garcia marquez, and eliot are difficult reads for me. i thought vonnegut fit as entp pretty well. and i have trouble deciding for both garcia marquez and borges whether it is infj or enfp. what is your confidence level with these typings?