The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming

Abstract

1 25.Language-based approaches to names in literature Literary onomastics is a relatively recent discipline, dealing with both personal names and place-names, though there is usually a more specific focus on one or the other depending on the literary work and the interests of the critic.This essay aims to give a brief historical overview of the deployment of literary onomastics as a linguistic methodology and literary technique in particularly earlier English literature. Literary onomasticsIt has been objected that literary onomastics it is too little like linguistics because it is 'the analysis of isolates ' and '[t]here can be no continuity to literary onomastics, and no meaningful history that appeals to implication'.In short, as T.L. Markey sums up the argument just broached, '[o]ne cannot make a science of sensitivity' (Markey 1982: 134-5).W.F.H. Nicolaisen acknowledges the force of the 'analysis of isolates' point, noting that much early endeavour in the area reduced to 'the meaning of names in literary work X by author Y', without much reference beyond the work or author in question (Nicloaisen 2008: 90). 1 These objections might be countered by remarking that literary study is inescapably the study of isolates, that such isolates fall into patterns, and that onomastic approaches potentially add another dimension to understanding of the historical depth of literature and language.As both names and hapax legomena are conditioned by the linguistic inventory and imaginative resources of authors, they should also be included in linguistic and literary consideration.Indeed, the six volumes of the Cambridge History of the English Language include names as a significant strand of evidence for the study of language; and recent studies of the use of names in literary works are contributing to a greater understanding of the historical context, social conditions, generic expectations, and public reception of writing.

Cite this

Carole Hough, Daria Izdebska (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming. Oxford University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199656431.001.0001

@book{carole2016the,
  title  = {The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming},
  author = {Hough, Carole and Izdebska, Daria},
  year   = {2016},
  publisher = {Oxford University Press eBooks},
  doi    = {10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199656431.001.0001}
}

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