ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on twins' first-hand accounts of being misunderstood by others, including psychologists, and of misunderstanding themselves. It argues that twins describe themselves very differently to their representations in both popular culture and the psychological literature. The chapter further argues that the psychological ideas, social discourses and cultural representations applied to twins possibly contribute to the problem of misunderstanding oneself, which the twins discuss in their accounts. It focuses on six themes, each providing a different lens through which to analyse the concept of being misunderstood. These themes are: expressions of being misunderstood; strange knowledge; marriage problems; comparison; complexity; and misunderstanding self. The author uses the term, 'strange knowledge', to cover the apparently odd way in which identicial twins communicate and know things about each other.
