Archetypal name
An archetypal name is a proper name of a real person or mythological or fictional character that has become a designation for an archetype of a certain personal trait.[1] It is a form of antonomasia.
Archetypal names are a literary device used to allude to certain traits of a character or a plot.[1]
Literary critic Egil Törnqvist mentions possible risks in choosing certain names for literary characters. For example, if a person is named Abraham, it is uncertain whether the reader will be hinted of the biblical figure or Abraham Lincoln, and only the context provides the proper understanding.[1]
Examples[edit]
Persons[edit]
Groups[edit]
A name may also be an identifier of a social group, an ethnicity, nationality, or geographical locality.[1]
Some of the names below may also be used as ethnic slurs.
- Karen, mainly used in the US for an entitled and demanding white woman
- Paddy, for an Irishman: from Saint Patrick, the patron of Ireland[1]
Animals[edit]
In French, the Latin-derived word for the fox (French: goupil) was replaced by French: renard, from Renart, the fox hero of the Roman de Renart (originally the German Reinhard).
Traits[edit]
Real persons[edit]
- Genius: Einstein
- Polymath: da Vinci
- Womanizer: Casanova
- Traitor: Benedict Arnold, Quisling
- Betrayer: Brutus[5]
- Outstanding ability: Bradmanesque[6][7][8]
Fictional or mythological characters[edit]
- Handsome man: Adonis[9]
- Lover: Romeo
- Manipulator: Svengali
- Betrayer: Judas[10]
- Womanizer: Don Giovanni / Don Juan, Lothario
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Egil Törnqvist (2004) "Eugene O'Neill: A Playwright's Theatre", ISBN 0-7864-1713-7, Chapter 8: "Personal Names and Words of Address"
- ^ "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow". arf.ru. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ Handy, B.; Swaeny, G. (2003-08-18), "The Summer of Bruce", Time, archived from the original on January 14, 2009, retrieved 2008-03-10
- ^ Takeda Hiroko (2004) "The Political Economy of Reproduction in Japan", ISBN 0-415-32190-5
- ^ Tempest, Kathryn (2017). Brutus : the noble conspirator. New Haven. ISBN 978-0-300-18009-1. OCLC 982651923.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Bradmanesque". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ Guha, Ramachandra (30 June 2016). The Picador Book of Cricket. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781509841400 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Market in Bradmanesque form". www.capitalmarket.co.in. 7 February 2007. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
- ^ Ehrlich, Eugene (2014-01-28), What's in a Name?: How Proper Names Became Everyday Words, Henry Holt, ISBN 9781466863200, retrieved 2020-08-04
- ^ "Dante's Inferno - Circle 9 - Cantos 31-34". danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2021-07-23.