Identification is a term used in literary and film studies to describe a psychological relationship between the reader of a novel and a character in the book, or between a spectator in the audience and a character on screen. In both cases, readers and spectators see themselves in the fictional character.

Identification is usually supposed to be largely unconscious: I may be aware that I like a given character, but not that I actually see them as an alter ego, a version of me, or a projection of my aspirations for myself. It would be a mistake to think all heroes foster identification, or that all villains inhibit identification—many, perhaps even most, characters elicit some degree of identification on the part of the reader or spectator.

Literary criticism