I was delighted last week to read a wonderful review of The Power of Names in Psychology Today. The author of the piece, Molly Castelloe, Ph.D., is a psychologist, writer and actor who obtained her doctorate from New York University in theatre and psychoanalysis. Her blog, The Me … [Read more...]
Elena Ferrante and the Question of Authorial Anonymity
“Names and surnames are labels,” writes Elena Ferrante, the successful Italian author of the Neapolitan quartet, who has recently published Frantumaglia: A Writer’s Journey, a book of her letters, essays and interviews. Ferrante, who has chosen to remain anonymous by withholding … [Read more...]
What Does Your Name Say about You? [U of T] Alumna Mavis Himes delves into the hidden meanings and social weight of what we call ourselves
This article was first published in U of T Magazine in December 2016 and is re-posted here with full permission. Why are some first names such as Michael and Olivia popular year after year, but you never meet anyone named “Seven” or “Soda”? What we call ourselves – and why – … [Read more...]
When a Given Name No Longer Fits the Person You Have Become: Thoughts on a Recent Episode of Out in the Open with Piya Chattopadhyay
As I have written in previous blogs, there are people who choose to change their name for a variety of reasons. Some people select a new name for entertainment and commercial purposes, such as pennames, pseudonyms or even mononyms; some for political purposes in response to … [Read more...]
The Sound of Our Name
A birth. A breath. A cry of being. Following this, an act of nomination and a new name that will identify the newborn as a unique individual. Generative language is the distinctive characteristic of our species; and the act of naming separates us from the rest of the animal … [Read more...]