Beyond identification

This study examines the characteristics and use of proper names in literary contexts. The analysis discusses the formation, selection, the contents and the functions of the names. In the present study Bertills seeks to shed new light on the consideration of proper names within the discourse of children’s literature. The translations of the names are also dealt with.

The names of the literary characters in three sets of texts are studied in close detail: Tove Jansson’s Moomin novels (1945-1970), Mauri Kunnas’s Koiramäki picturebooks (1980-1988) and A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928).

The names in the corpus are considered through general onomastics, semantic as well as narrative perspectives.

Keywords: literary research, children's literature, onomastics, proper names, fictive characters, literary characters