Understanding Neurodivergent Masking through Pratchett's Maskerade
This is an announcement for Dr Liliya's talk for the upcoming Discworld Convention 2026!
I will be discussing the nature and meaning of ND Masking as we can observe it in Terry Pratchett's writing.
Every book of Pratchett's can be used to demonstrate an aspect of Masking (aka Camouflaging). But Maskerade, which happens to be the focus of this year's Convention, DWCon2026, unsurprisingly happens to contain a veritable smorgasbord of characters with one dominant preoccupation: trying to conceal their personality (their true self, as Heinz Cohut, would have phrased it) behind a Mask of some sort (aka, false self). And that is the main reason I have chosen the topic.
The other reason is combination of the two key factors that make Masking an essential part of our life. These are:
The strong imperative compelling us, the neurodivergents, to mask.
The high cost exerted by masking on the neurodivergent people, specifically.
During the one-hour long talk, we will identify the names of main characters that mask their identities in the novel, and the specific reasons each one has that drive their masking behaviours.
We shall discuss how each character deals with their hidden motivations, and how their reasons for masking are addressed and dissolved - or become inexorably melded to their hidden identity and persist as a new personality.
Finally, we'll touch upon the differences between masking and following the social rules, and finish by a discussion of Neurodivergent Charisma - including the hints on how you can master it!
This blog post will be updated after the talk, with more details ☺️!
