| Title: | What’s in a Name? Symbolism and Images of the Self |
| Author: | Maria-Cătălina Muraru |
| Publication: | Language and Literature – European Landmarks of Identity, 11, p. 359 |
| p-ISSN: | 1843-1577 |
| Publisher: | Universitatea din Pitești |
| Place: | Pitești |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Abstract: | The study of names, having onomastics as its main research field, implies, beside the discussion about the linguistic status of names, an investigation of symbolic reference, characteristic for the philosophy of language. Names are woven into the identity of the person, being even perceived as «double d’une personne» (Β. Clarinval). They may constitute a key to a realm of imaginary, as, through the agency of words, one shapes fantasy and images, including those of the self. Fabulous monsters or heroes of fairy-tales, in particular, often bear names associated with a reality of a certain type, within even an ontological imaginary. The image of the ugly old woman that embodies the evil in Romanian fairy – tales, e.g., is expressed by words (gr. ‘mouma’ – ‘witch’), that become tools of imaginary. On the other hand, a name may construct a certain reality, as according to the Latin “Nomen est omen”, marking out one’s identity, in a positive or negative meaning. Beyond the heroes of literature, an art of words created by man, there are names connected to a reality of another philosophical depth. Certain examples from Greek, the par excellence language of philosophy, show the symbolism and the power of names. Man, ‘anthropos’ in Greek, is meant to be ‘the one who gazes and moves towards the above’ – ‘ano athrein’. The name of a certain man, Adam, reveals the unity of the four cardinal points denoted by their initials in Greek – East (Anatoli), West (Dysis), North (Arktos) and South (Mesimbria). Therefore, dealing with names leads to (de)constructing of images of the self and, by extension, of the world, as paradigms of reality or of imaginary. |
| Key words: | onomastics, names, symbolism |
| Language: | English |
| Links: |  pdf  html |
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