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- Convenors:
-
Bree Blakeman
(Australian National University)
Frances Morphy (The Australian National University)
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- Discussant:
-
Piers Kelly
- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Vitality
- Location:
- WPE Paraparap
- Sessions:
- Friday 25 November, -
Time zone: Australia/Melbourne
Short Abstract:
Naming systems and naming practices are deeply embedded within broader cultural systems and yet the study of personal names has largely remained the domain of onomastics. This panel seeks to give life to this much-understudied field in anthropology.
Long Abstract:
Names mark out individuals, they classify people into pre-existing groups, and they are used as tools in social interaction. They are also far more than their indexical or pragmatic functions. Naming systems and naming practices are deeply embedded within broader cultural systems: they are anchored in cultural theories of creation and being, they offer insights into the way personhood is conceived, and they are inextricably linked to social structures and relations of power.
Alford's (1998) large scale cross-cultural study failed to find a cultural group that did not use personal names and yet the study of personal names has largely remained the domain of onomastics. This panel seeks to give life to this much-understudied field in anthropology.
We invite papers on personal names from all regions and cultural groups. We recognise that personal names are not synonymous with terms of reference or terms of address so we also welcome papers that explore the latter in cases where they are used as substitutes for personal names.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 25 November, 2022, -Paper short abstract:
In this paper, I present a brief overview of the origins, use and transmission of female Aboriginal personal names I started to collect in 1983 at Yuendumu (Central Australia). Transmission patterns offer insights into the unique relationships amongst bestower, recipient and the Ancestral Beings.
Paper long abstract:
While there has been considerable interest in African and European systems of personal names little research has been directed at the sources of Australian Aboriginal personal names. While a few studies exist most were published several decades ago and generally offered analyses of male naming systems. In this paper I present a brief overview of the origins, use and transmission of personal names among women and girls grounded in data I started collecting in 1983 at Yuendumu, a Central Australian settlement mostly inhabited by Warlpiri people. I will discuss how naming and transmission patterns have evolved since the early 1980s, and continue to offer insights into the unique relationships amongst the bestower, the name holder and the Ancestral Beings in post-colonial times.
Paper short abstract:
I argue that, among the Cocos Malays, personal names teknonyms and personal names make sense in relation to each other. In general, teknonyms reflect a dividual identity, which contrasts with the individual identity of personal names.
Paper long abstract:
On the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, personal names are passed down from the father. They are usually reserved for formal occassions. In daily life, another naming system is most commonly used. Specifically, Cocos Malays use the name of one's oldest child or grandchild. For instance, I am known not as "Nick". Instead, I take the name of my eldest child "Kiki". So I am referred to and addressed as "Pak Kiki". This literally means "Kiki's Dad" (see: https://nicholasherriman.blogspot.com/2014/02/naming-and-family.html).
This kind of name is called a "teknonym" in the anthropological literature. In general, personal names come from an ancestor and go down through the generations. Teknonyms, by contrast, come from a descendant and go up through the generations.
The most sustained theoretical treatment of the topic is Hildred and Clifford Geertz's 1964 article "Teknonymy in Bali". In it, the authors foreshadow their later interpretive anthropology, arguing that, in Bali, teknonymy "is not just a set of beliefs, a mere theory, but is actually used as a template or blueprint in terms of which Balinese may pattern their concrete behaviour"(1964, 103).
In this presentation, I draw on the Geertzs' idea and combine it with another approach to teknonyms. Drawing on the 'New Melanesian Anthropology', I argue that teknonyms and personal names make sense in relation to each other. In general, teknonyms reflect a dividual identity, which contrasts with the individual identity of personal names. But my argument needs to be tempered by various observations, which I will provide in the presentation.