Search

E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) was proficient in the Italian language and frequently incorporated Italian characters into his works. In this paper, we will examine the names of Italian women in four stories that predominantly take place in Germany. While Hoffmann primarily employs Cratylic (speaking) names that appear to shed light on the characters' traits due to their transparent meanings, these names are not always genuine. Quite often, their meanings are deceptive, rendering them false (lying) names. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensive presence of names and toponyms in Alberto Arbasino's works makes it an ideal case study for exploring the significance of proper names and lists of names in literature. This paper aims to examine the role of names in Arbasino's work, starting with an analysis of the names found in the paratexts, such as titles, intertitles, indexes, and indexes of names. These names serve as structural elements that reflect the author's inclination towards classification and combination. Moving forward, I examine the role of names within the main text itself. By comparing them to the works of Proust, Flaubert, and Auden, it becomes evident that names in Arbasino's writing take on a dual nature, encompassing both seriousness and facetiousness. This duality allows his prose to oscillate between memoir and biting satire, as well as between self-portrayal and self-parody. This applies to various forms of his writing, whether it be prose, non-fiction, or hybrid works like Fratelli d'Italia. In conclusion, I offer some observations on the use of homonyms and synonyms in Arbasino's work, employing semiotic tools to analyze their significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bible contains numerous lists of anthroponyms, organized according to genealogical structures. This article specifically focuses on five of these lists, which include: 1) the genealogy of Cain, son of Adam, as described in the fourth and fifth chapters of Genesis; 2) the genealogy presented in the book of Chronicles, spanning chapters 1.1 to 9.44; 3) the genealogy of Jesus outlined in the Gospel of Matthew; 4) the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Luke; and 5) the concise repetition found throughout the Bible: «I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.» The underlying question this text seeks to address is: what purpose do these extensive lists of anthroponyms serve in a text that is meant to convey a divine revelation? To explore this query, the article delves into two significant aspects of Judeo-Christian religions. Firstly, the prohibition on pronouncing the name of God, and secondly, the covenant of alliance between God and His people. These two aspects of the relationship between humans and God may appear contradictory. However, it is suggested that these lists of anthroponyms, which serve as the starting point of the research, may help reconcile this contradiction. The faithful, unable to directly invoke the name of God, can instead invoke Him through the names of His sons. This is because the 'Holy Spirit' is believed to have been infused by God into the spirit of Adam, and subsequently transmitted from one generation to another, dwelling within the spirits of those descended from Adam. The paper concludes by proposing the hypothesis that these extensive series of anthroponyms constitute the formula that enables the naming of the unutterable, representing an infinite periphrasis for the unpronounceable name of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the role of proper nouns in generating wordplays within French trench journals. Following a brief introduction to the corpus and the connection between proper nouns and wordplay, we present several examples to illustrate the frequent use of puns in these publications, intended to entertain and divert the soldiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the intricate connection between names and identity in the migrant novel Fiamme in Paradiso by Abdel Malek Smari. Within the context of migration, the protagonist Karim undergoes a symbolic journey, adopting various identities, changing his name as a means of concealment during challenging times, and even being bestowed new names by Italian individuals. By examining this symbolic trajectory through the lens of onomastics, we aim to unravel the significance of names and naming in the migration process. Additionally, an interview with the author will provide further insights into the author's intentions and perspectives on the relevance of names in the novel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the significance of anthroponyms in Katja Petrowskaja's literary debut, Vielleicht Esther. Geschichten. In this book, the Ukrainian novelist writes in German about her family's history, engaging with postmemorial research that problematizes the processes of memory and identity construction. Proper names play a crucial role in Petrowskaja's exploration as she seeks to uncover her ancestors' history using scarce documents, fragmented recollections, and sparse notes. These proper names serve a primary documentary function, affirming the existence of individuals who have often been entirely erased from the annals of history. By analyzing Petrowskaja's writing and considering her unique approach to postmemorial discourse, which embraces her diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, we observe how proper names assume a central position in her narrative journey through her family's history. She endeavors to uncover what might have been, delving into the realm of possibilities rather than focusing solely on what actually transpired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the portrayal of significant anthroponyms in both the initial Italian translation (1968) and a recent retranslation (2022) of Witold Gombrowicz's short story titled "Biesiada u hrabiny Kotłubaj" (literally: "The Banquet at Countess Kotłubaj's"). Originally written in 1928, the story features proper names that conceal humorous puns, alluding to the characters' social background or containing polysemic, primarily erotic references. Through a comparative analysis of the two translations, we uncover the changes that have unfolded over half a century in terms of translation strategies, readers' preferences and competencies, and the role of translated texts within the target culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay highlights the longstanding tradition of associating members of academies with names that reflect their specific qualities and roles within the organization. This practice has been deeply ingrained in the life of academies since their modern reestablishment. Exploring the "institutional" history of academies within Italian literary culture is a valuable research endeavor that focuses on the significance of academic naming and its central role in defining identity. The paper particularly emphasizes a significant scholarly work from the early eighteenth century, Giacinto Gimma's Idea della storia dell'Italia letterata, which serves as a precursor to Italian literary history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the names given to theatrical characters representing «the parasite» in several vernacular translations of Plautus' comedies (reference is also made to works by Terence) and in a number of Neolatin and Italian comedies and tragicomedies between the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The first part looks at Greek and Latin sources, and the Humanistic and Renaissance developments of the name Pamphagus, while the second considers non-Italian works with diverse dramaturgical features, in order to illustrate the typological and onomastic differences of the characters, whose names naturally follow the outcomes of the articulated creative processes of reuse and adaptation of classical models to contemporary historical situations and events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The names in As You Like It illustrate the vital importance of names in Shakespeare's development of both themes and characters. Major themes of AYLI are prominently expressed by the characters' personifications, and his character names show a mixed use of associations and the coinage of lexical equivalents (redende Namen). His associations are either borrowings from previous literature or references to topical phenomena. His lexical equivalents are sometimes phonological in other plays, but in ALYI they are etymological. This paper will describe the most salient examples in this play. A complete analysis of all names and of the semiotic basis of name meaning may be found in my recent book, Names as Metaphors in Shakespeare's Comedies (Vernon Press). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns one of Collodi's many reflexions on proper names and on the importance of their choice; in particular, the developments and consequences of the attribution of inappropriate names are analyzed here. Collodi made the inadequate name a recurring subject in many of his writings, a comic topos that was repeated and refined through the years. The Florentine writer satirized in particular names chosen to convey a racist message, as well as those whose choice was influenced by literary and melodramatic fashions, in contrast with more traditional names now considered unpleasant or even 'common'. Collodi hits out at such fads and artificial attitudes as found in the snobbery typical of the nascent bourgeoisie, in its attempt to rid itself of what might be seen as pre-unification provincialism. He even brought his own satirical vision to bear on embarrassing names at the very beginning of Pinocchio, with that amused, paradoxical onomastic decision made by Geppetto in endowing his puppet with a name chosen because, he says, he knew a family of Pinocchi where everyone was well-off and the richest among them was a beggar!. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to draw attention to 'literary' names in humanist epistolography, by means of examples of interpretation and of an ironic, mocking and disruptive playing with names, taken mainly from the epistulae familiares of prominent late fifteenth-century intellectuals. The first part of my paper contains a selection of names from the correspondence of Marcantonio Sabellico. The second, which includes other literary genres, examines the case of Angelo Poliziano, whose cognomen seems to have been specially designed for readings that were either adulatory or witty, and sometimes simply offensive, in the writings of his contemporaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world of Hoffmann's fairy tale, The Strange Child, is divided into the spheres of everyday life and the Supernatural. Whereas the names of the first sphere are well-chosen, normal ones, supernatural beings either have no names at all or have names which are in some way uncanny. According to Freud 'the uncanny' is related to strangeness. In this paper I analyze first the names of the everyday world and subsequently those of the supernatural sphere. I show that the most uncanny name of this tale, Pepser, fits in with Freud's theory that the uncanny is that class of the terrifying which at first glance looks like something long known to us, something familiar. Another aspect of the uncanny is that it is a quality of something that ought to have remained hidden and secret and yet comes to light. This quality too can be identified in the name Pepser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many characters in Theodor Fontane's novels bear inadequate names, i.e. names indicating a contradiction with a particular feature of the character in question. Such a contradiction may be based on his/her physical appearance, behaviour or profession. Onymic inadequacy can be either semantically motivated or dependent on the socio-cultural background. In the first case, inadequate names are meaningful names («speaking names» or redende Namen) pointing to a quality the literary character does not possess. In the second case, inadequate names are antithetic and consist of a sophisticated first name and an ordinary surname. The present paper deals with the coinage and function of thirteen inadequate names of characters in Fontane's novels Irrungen, Wirrungen, Frau Jenny Treibel, Effi Briest and Der Stechlin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The character of Juduška, the protagonist of The Golovlyov Family (1880), a novel by Russian writer Saltykov-Ŝedrin, is an interesting example of renaming. Juduška is not, in fact, only a nickname (made up of the name Juda, Judah, and the term duška, 'pleasant, gentle person'), tainted by suggestions of duplicity, deception and betrayal; it almost immediately becomes the name that designates his identity. Juduška conceals the original Porfirij, a solemn, royal pre-name, an allusion to the colour purple, an alienating name, and is completed by a second epithet, krovopivuška, 'leech'. This paper aims to investigate the functional relations between the names of Porfirij-Juduška, his actions and his destiny in the microcosm he represents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]