What's in a name?

[fajrdrako]

Names aren't much matter, unless they're the right name. - Elizabeth Bear, in Ink and Steel

This quote charmed me, because it made me think how many of my heroes use names that are not their own. Sometimes (as with Captain Jack Harkness), these names are more theirs than any other. At other time, the chosen name reveals a facet of the personality that doesn't normally show - say, the young Miles Vorkosigan becoming Admiral Naismith, or the young Francis Crawford becoming Thady Boy Ballagh.

And there are heroes with no name at all, like the Doctor in Doctor Who , or the eponymous hero of Stingray - several layers of irony, there, in a show named after a man with no name but only a symbol.

Sometimes the pseudonym is an irony, such as Aral Vorkosigan being the Butcher of Komarr.

Sometimes the name is a cover whose hidden nuances reveal changes in form and perception to be reveale in a greater truth i a greater name - like Shakespeare's Prince Hal becoming King Henry V, or Meagan Whalen Turner's Gen becoming Eugenides.

And then there's the secret identity - examples where the name is known to the reader or viewer but not the other characters. The interrelationship of Batman and Bruce Wayne, or Spider-Man and Peter Parker - where the one identity hides another. And even cases (again, in comics) where the name is not a secret, but the differences between Gambit and Remy LeBeau (or between Wolverine and Logan) are clear.

Comments

[toraks.livejournal.com]

Not sure this is relevant, but I found it amusing:

I didn't realize, until something triggered it when I was watching this last (and my first) series of Doctor Who, that he had no name.

I thought his name was Who. You know, Dr. Who. Not Doctor, Who?

I know, it makes no sense, but it really struck me, as that's what I'd thought for years and years, knowing nothing about the show. Suddenly made much more sense that people called them Doctor Ten or Ten or whatever.

Silliness.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think most people who have never seen the show think the Doctor's name is "Who" and are generally surprised when they learn it isn't. Which in its way is kind of cute. The mark of a fan is to know what his name isn't - like an initiation process. Congratulations, you've passed the test!

I love the scene in "The Empty Child" when Rose says, "How do you handle, all this time, not having a name?" and he says, "Nine hundred years, I'm coping." And then there's the whole business of his 'real' name being known to River Song, which brings the thing psychologically to another level - the 'real name' being a secret known to none or only a few, with a 'used name' - in this case, the Doctor - which anyone can use.

They played with this nicely in "The Sontaran Stratagem", too, when Luke Rattigan told the Sontaran General he didn't know the alien's name, though the Sonatarans too would have known him as "the Doctor".

Many layers of silliness and gamesplaying. Like "Frankenstein" not being the name of the monster in the original novel, but we all think of the monster when we hear the name. There's a whole series of mystery novels about a detective hero who has no name - the story's all in the first person. Or another series in which the protagonist has a name that could be the name of either a man or a woman and the series never indicates which he (or she) is.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

There's a whole series of mystery novels about a detective hero who has no name - the story's all in the first person.

Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective. Sometimes the pretension gets a bit tiring.

Or another series in which the protagonist has a name that could be the name of either a man or a woman and the series never indicates which he (or she) is.

by Sarah Caudwell.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the other DD reference.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective. Sometimes the pretension gets a bit tiring.

Which is maybe why I never read more than one of them. A protagonist without any kind of a name seems very incomplete. Spencer has only one name, but it fits him well.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the other DD reference.

Do you mean Johnson Johnson, the man who has one name twice?

[trialia]

*chuckles quietly, as she never uses her real name and only tolerates it from family*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I hated, and never used, the name my parents called me when I was little - a fine name in its way, but I always liked my full first name, "Elizabeth", and was happy when I was old enough to insist. There are many, many variations of "Elizabeth" and I'm sure I've been called them all. Just as well there's only one form of it I don't like. Bad luck that it was my mother's favourite.

[binkbink.livejournal.com]

I too, detest the name my parents gave me. This might be because they called me by my sister's name when they were being nice, and only used mine when a criticism was coming.
I tried to find a nickname to replace the name they gave me, but though there is a sound I respond to, I don't think I have found my real name yet.
Perhaps my inability to find a name I recognise as my own is like The Mariner, who doesn't have a name because then Death can't find him.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

they called me by my sister's name when they were being nice, and only used mine when a criticism was coming.

How rotten.

I don't think I have found my real name yet.

Are you still looking for one? Do you think you will find it?

Perhaps my inability to find a name I recognise as my own is like The Mariner, who doesn't have a name because then Death can't find him.

What a very cool idea. I must confess, I love non-names like The Captain or The Doctor or The Mariner - which aren't names but function like them, and are descriptive besides.

So are you The Scientist?

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Francis Crawford goes by any number of names: The Master of Culter (and I think just "the Master" at certain points in GoK), Thady Boy, Frangike (a scented onion?!), C. de L. & S., the Comte de Sevigny, the Voevoda Bolshoia, and "Francis" to a select few. Have I missed any? I'm sure I have. *g*

I'm also thinking of MCR becoming The Black Parade. Who then had to "die" so that the band could go back to being themselves.

I think there's a certain power in names - and Gerard knows it. Look at the members of the Umbrella Academy having three names, all except for Number Five, who only has one. So far. Apparently we are going to find out who - or what - the Sparrow is. Yay! My love affair with Gerard's brain may have reached epic proportions...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Have I missed any? I'm sure I have. *g*

Marshall, or Marshall of France, though that's a position as much as a name - but that counts too. Likewise, M. l'Ambassadeur. There's even the overt fact - so obvious it's in the first line of the first book - that while his name is "Francis Crawford", he is most often called "Lymond" by the author.

"My lord. Jesus. Sir."
"'Sir' will do, until we have divine witness to the contrary."

Or:
"What do you want to be called?"
"Home, like the cattle?"

I always like the 'scented onion' line because it can be taken at all sorts of levels - for one thing, he's got many layers himself. For another, the 'scent' can be taking as the artifices he uses to influence people.

And the line "He had signed it, as he so seldom did, with his Christian name" always chokes me up. Do you remember that bit? It's Lymond's letter to Kate in PF that begins, "She is with me, and safe. You know what she feels her mission to be...." I love that so much: one of our rare glimpses of Lymond without just being himself, on paper. Witty but honest. (And just a little apologetic because he knows Kate will be throwing fits and he needs to reassure her. Guiltily.)

I'm also thinking of MCR becoming The Black Parade.

Ooh, yes, of course! Good catch.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I suspect this is one of the many things that made Dunnett unreadable for me. It felt like she never called him the same thing twice [g].

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It felt like she never called him the same thing twice [g].

Didn't that happen in some of the Russian novels? I remember being terribly confused by one of them - probably War and Peace - because everyone had so many names, it was like having three times the right number of characters.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Definitely.

I guess you just have to get used to that way of referring to people. It's a style that really bothers some people, enough to dump them out of the story.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I came to love the way Georgette Heyer heroes have multiple names. It's part of the charm. But she handles it fairly clearly.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I somehow managed to avoid reading all the Russian novels except Anna Karenina. I'm trying to keep it that way [g].

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Anna Karenina because it sounded depressing. I never got to the end of War and Peace. But I loved Pushkin and I particularly love Dostoevsky, especially Crime and Punishment. (What, and it isn't depressing? Yeah, it is, but it's good.)

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Like some folks on the Bujold list, I really try to avoid reading depressing books. I tend in that direction on my own, and I really don't need any further push in that direction [wry g].

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I find that the interesting thing is that books which depress some people don't depress others, or vice versa. And I find some books depressing that other people don't - for instance, I find The Curse of Chalion hard to read because it reminds me so vividly of feelings I had when depressed. While certain -shall we say, emotionally intense - scenes in Dunnett are my favourite, even though terribly sad things happen in them. It's all different triggers. Maybe the difference is that death, in general, doesn't depress me, but suffering often does.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

For me, it's more the mood I'm in when I'm reading it. Reading is sort of like alcohol for me that way -- it tends to magnify whatever mood I'm in. I've learned not to read Memory when I'm depressed, for instance, even though it's my favorite Vorkosiverse book and probably one of my alltime favorite books, because the fact that Miles is pretty much handed something that he happens to excel at exactly when he happens to need distraction from his depression frustrates the heck out of me when I'm sitting there wishing for something to pull me out of mine, with nothing in sight.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't think books or movies usually affect my mood, though I can't handle horror movies at all and occasionally fiction can trigger emotional reactions. More likely, my mood just goes with the flow, in a good way.

There are exceptions - for instance, after seeing the movie The Fisher King I was depressed for days. And Alan Garner can terrify me by just saying "the sky is blue". But usually a book only bothers me if there's something I can relate to unduly.

One of the symptoms of my depression was an inability to read. I was at a pretty low ebb and lost all ability to concentrate on anything. Couldn't watch TV, either.

But The Curse of Chalion triggered bad memories - didn't depress me so much as make me want to run away. I suppose this is, subconsciously, why I haven't read Paladin of Souls beyond the first totally inoffensive page. But I liked The Hallowed Hunt just fine.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I don't do horror books or movies at all because I nightmare very easily, and I don't enjoy nightmares [g]. I've been that way all my life.

I remember sitting through The Fisher King in the theater and being bored to death (I wasn't alone so I couldn't just get up and walk out).

I did walk out on Braveheart. But that was because that movie generated the most intense anger I've ever had at fictional material of any kind. It wasn't just an "oh, god, they've ruined the history," or anything like that. It was just sheer roaring blood-pounding-in-my-ears, "had to sit in my car for a while before I felt safe to drive," wanting-to-slug-something fury. I still don't know why I felt that way about it, but I still feel my blood pressure go up every time I'm reminded of it. Really bizarre.

I read and read and read when I'm depressed. It's one of the few distractions that really works, although as soon as I surface when I finish the book, I'm right back where I was. Kind of the distraction equivalent of Chinese food.

I wish there was some way to get you to read Paladin. For me, it really is by far the best of the three 5GU books, and I would love to know what you think about it.

PS

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

You have a cat in your icon. ::looks at you owlishly::

I mean, I have a cat in my icon. It's normal for me.

Re: PS

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You have a cat in your icon. ::looks at you owlishly::

LOL! Nothing wrong with that! As you know. And here's another.

I consider "normal" a variable state.

Re: PS

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

A cat and a Doctor. Now, that's more normal and less of a shock. :D

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

It wasn't until recently that I figured out the Doctor's last name wasn't Who, too. I always thought he was related to the character in A Wrinkle in Time.

Oh, and my mother is the only person who calls me by my first name anymore, too. Even my sisters gave in and started calling my by the nickname I gave myself in my mid-twenties. I've actually been going by that name for over twenty years now -- when the heck did that happen?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I always thought he was related to the character in A Wrinkle in Time.

He should have been!

my mother is the only person who calls me by my first name anymore, too

My mother never could manage to call me Elizabeth. She just couldn't. We found a happy compromise with Lizzie.

I've actually been going by that name for over twenty years now -- when the heck did that happen?

Time. It goes by. It gets faster and faster, and we're all left thinking, "huh?"

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

I suspect Dr. Who and Mrs. Who would have gotten on like a house afire.

What was your childhood name, just out of curiosity? Or would you rather not share? I always liked Beth as a nickname for Elizabeth, but if I couldn't have Beth I'd want the whole thing, too.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to tell you my childhood name but not on a public forum. It's a fairly common nickname for Elizabeth.

I like Beth, too. I work with a woman whose name is Beth - and not as a short form of Elizabeth. I like that. (Though sometimes people confuse us, by name alone.)

New Eighth Doctor Radio Adventures On-Line

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Here's a treat to tide you over until the return of Ten...

Dead London, part one of a new series, is now available on-line:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f2zny

Here's a behind-the-scenes featurette:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f2zp0

Re: New Eighth Doctor Radio Adventures On-Line

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ooo, thank you!