Proper Names in Children's Literature That Describe Physical Attributes, a Piece of Clothing, Or Even the Colour of the Clothes of the Referent
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ÅA Yvonne Bertills Beyond Identifi cation Proper Names in Children’s Literature Yvonne Bertills (b. 1968) has a Master’s degree from the Department of Finnish at Åbo Akademi University. Since 1996 she has worked as Assistant at the Finnish Department where she also teaches Finnish Literature. She has also been a member of the Faculty of Humanities’ project ChiLPA, Children’s Literature: Pure and Applied. Cover: Tove Ahlbäck Åbo Akademi University Press Tavastg. 30 C, FIN-20700 ÅBO, Finland Tel. int. +358-2-215 3292, Fax int. +358-2-215 4490 E-mail: forlaget@abo.fi http://www.abo.fi /stiftelsen/forlag/ Distribution: Oy Tibo-Trading Ab P.O.Box: 33, FIN-21601 PARGAS, Finland Tel. int. +358-2-4549 200, Fax int. +358-2-4549 220 E-Mail: [email protected] http://www.tibo.net CONTENTS Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... iii 1. Introduction...............................................................................................................1 1.1. Background........................................................................................................1 1.2. Aim and methodology........................................................................................3 1.3. The structure of the study ................................................................................8 1.4. Terminological and categorical concepts.........................................................9 1.5. Defining the corpus.........................................................................................11 2. What is in a Proper Name? .......................................................................................17 2.1. General viewpoints of personal names...........................................................17 2.2. Name-giving and name formation ..................................................................21 2.3. Semantic aspects .............................................................................................23 2.4. Connotative meanings.....................................................................................31 2.5. Additional names.............................................................................................34 Discussion...............................................................................................................37 3. Proper Names in Literary Contexts...........................................................................40 3.1. Naming literary characters.............................................................................41 3.2. Function and contents.....................................................................................47 3.3. The role of the name in characterization ......................................................51 4. The Specifics of Children's Literature.......................................................................57 4.1. The specifics of literary characters................................................................58 4.2. Plurality of readers and languages ................................................................60 4.3. Language play (word play) and name play ....................................................65 5. The Criteria for Name Formation .............................................................................70 5.1. Name formation in the Moomin novels and in Winnie-the-Pooh ................71 5.1.1. Derivations ............................................................................................71 5.1.2. Appellative names..................................................................................73 5.1.3. Imaginary names...................................................................................74 5.1.4. Proper as opposed to generic reference...............................................76 5.1.5. Conventional names ..............................................................................79 5.1.6. Compound names and compositions ....................................................80 5.2. Name formation in the Doghill books...........................................................86 5.2.1. Simple names........................................................................................87 5.2.2. Compound and composite names ........................................................88 5.2.3. Connections to the lexicon...................................................................91 5.3. The function of name forms .........................................................................93 ii 6. “A World of Meanings” - The Semantics of Personal Names in Children’s Literature.........................................................................................100 6.1. "Tell me your name and I'll tell you who you are" – Transparent traits........................................................................................102 6.1.1. Expressing external characteristics...................................................121 6.1.2. Language play .....................................................................................129 6.1.3. “Toys come alive .................................................................................135 6.1.4. Titles, occupations and social roles...................................................138 6.2. Connotations.................................................................................................141 6.2.1. Sound symbolism................................................................................142 6.2.2. Culturally connotative names............................................................151 6.3. Conventional names .....................................................................................153 6.3.1. First names first .................................................................................153 6.3.2. In between conventions and imagination .........................................155 Discussion.....................................................................................................160 7. Literary Functions of Proper Names.......................................................................165 7.1.Names as narrative devices............................................................................167 7.2.The names in connection with the setting ....................................................175 7.3.Fictionality and authenticity..........................................................................176 7.4.The roles of the illustrations .........................................................................178 7.5.Absence of name versus absence of character..............................................181 8. Translating Proper Names......................................................................................186 8.1.Translation studies.........................................................................................187 8.2.Translating children's literature...................................................................190 8.3.Translating proper names in literature........................................................195 8.3.1.Conventional names ..............................................................................198 8.3.2.Transferring semantic content.............................................................206 8.3.2.1.Transparency............................................................................208 8.3.2.2.Linguistic playfulness...............................................................209 8.3.3.Weighing the Connotations: Connotative suggestiveness...........218 8.3.4.Cultural playfulness ....................................................................220 8.3.5.Stylistic variation ........................................................................223 8.3.6.Translating gender in names ......................................................225 8.4. Concluding comments .................................................................................227 9. Conclusion: Beyond Identification..........................................................................232 Notes..........................................................................................................................239 Bibliography...............................................................................................................247 Appenix: Name lists....................................................................................................268 Index..........................................................................................................................275 iii Acknowledgements Writing a doctoral dissertation is a long a winding journey during which the encouragement and support of other people are of invaluable help. Having completed this book and looking back at several years of work, I wish to thank those who have contributed most. I feel I have been very fortunate throughout the project, because I have had people at the Finnish Department as well as outside supervising and reading my work at different stages. My deepest felt gratitude goes to my supervisor, Professor Kaisa Häkkinen, for supporting me throughout this project and for always carefully reading my text, her constructive suggestions and comments that motivated me to continue. I am also grateful to Professor Häkkinen for her expertise in research as well as concrete support in work-related matters. I am deeply indebted to my other supervisor, Professor Urpo Nikanne,