A meseregény írói névadásának jellegzetességei
Date: 2021
Subject: fairy tale novels
personal name
name-giving
meseregény
írói névadás
personal name
name-giving
meseregény
írói névadás
Abstract:
The study examines the personal names of contemporary fairy tale novels, the motivations, and
a typology of name-giving. It is based on the preconception that the characters of fairy tale novels go
through a marked process of individualization as a result of novelization, in contrast to the characters
of fairy tales, due to which the genre gradually moves away from depicting archetypes and tries to endow
its characters with more independent personality traits. This process of individualization is also
reflected in the personal names found in fairy tale novels, which function as an external marker of
the personal identity of the characters. In the first section, the study reviews the naming habits of folk
tales and then draws attention to the specific name-giving motivations along which fairy tale novels
give their characters names. The study notes that real personal names, fantasy names, and descriptive
names found in folk tales go through transformation in fairy tale novels, and a secretive naming
style, associative naming, and name-giving in line with the magical function of names, playfulness
and comic effect grow in importance. Descriptive, playful, and comic personal names – resonating
with the expectations of the potential recipient – play an important role among the anthroponyms of
fairy tale novels, and can even affect the story with their meanings or sound.