“Words denote because they have meaning, but they connote because they are contaminated.” Álex Grijelmo, writer and journalist, uses this phrase to explain the power of words to conceptualize a reality and, in turn, multiply their meaning as they are used in different communicative contexts. This, in fact, is how our own language is nourished, grows and transforms. This is also the reason why textual materials produced by a given community of speakers are important for their current language development and for the characterization of future generations. This ideal, of course, is embodied in different types of texts and dissemination channels, both oral and written, since the language spoken on news portals, in social media publications, in literature and in contracts is the same at the formal level, but very different in terms of register. This line of thinking effectively arises from the firm belief that the words we use to communicate always have a why and that they convey much more information than we think. It is for this reason that writers tend to be especially sensitive when choosing the vocabulary for their works, and a word is rarely chosen at random, especially in literature. This is so much so that the books we read are often full of lexical symbology which some readers may overlook. For example, have we ever wondered why characters are called a certain way or have a name that reminds us of a specific characteristic? Words of this type are known as “charactonyms” and their analysis raises a number of questions when it comes to translating them. That’s why in today’s article we will learn about them, study some examples and see some considerations regarding their translation.
The English neologism “charactonym” contains the elements “character” and “–nym” (or name), that is, “the proper name given to a fictional character” and, by extension, “that which identifies them with a specific quality”. In fact, charactonyms are the proper names given to characters in a literary work and which reveal a key aspect about their personality. In Russian, to add an additional perspective, they are called говорящие фамилии [govoriáschie famílii], or “surnames that speak” in the sense that “they tell us something about those bearing them”. These names, however, are not only last names, but they can be first names. Below we analyze three different examples in three different literary contexts.
EXAMPLE IN SPANISH LITERATURE: THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA
In 1936, Federico García Lorca wrote The House of Bernarda Alba (although it would neither be published nor performed until 1945 in Argentina). The play tells the story of Bernarda Alba, who, after the death of her second husband, imposes a strict eight-year mourning period under her roof, repressing her five daughters, all with different personalities, in the context of twentieth-century rural Spain.
These differences are obvious throughout the work, but the names given to these women offer several clues about their personality and future events. On the one hand, the name Bernarda is similar to the male version, Bernardo, which is much more common, and it is intended to associate the widow with characteristics of men of the time: violent, authoritarian and despotic towards women. The eldest daughter, Angustias (meaning pain and anxiety in Spanish) is desperate to marry a man and thus be able to run away from home; to do so, she focuses her attention on Pepe el Romano. Magdalena is the daughter who is most affected by her father’s death and she spends the day lamenting (like the Spanish expression “llorando como una magdalena”, which refers to Mary Magdalene who weeps for Jesus). Amelia, the next daughter in line, despite having a more secondary role, also reflects a certain tenderness and sweetness, an idea that is implied in her name with the element “miel”, which means honey in Spanish. Martirio, the fourth daughter, truly lives a “tormented” life, since she is secretly in love with Pepe el Romano and deeply hates her sister Angustias for being engaged to him as well as her sister Adela for being the object of his infatuation. Adela, for her part, has her fate engraved in her name, since it means “noble woman” or “pure woman” and we must remember that, after committing suicide upon believing that her lover had died, Bernarda says the following words about her daughter after discovering she was pregnant: “My daughter died a virgin. Take her to her room and dress her as if she were a maiden”.
EXAMPLE IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
In 1866, Fyodor Dostoevsky published Crime and Punishment, the story of a young former law student in St. Petersburg who is forced to abandon his studies due to money problems. He develops a theory about extraordinary men and decides to put it into practice. To do this, he murders an old miser. From then on, he starts to experience delusions and moral conflicts while dealing with other situations involving friends, family and other acquaintances.
The name of the protagonist is Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, which reminds us of the phrase Ródina Románovij raskololas (the Romanovichs’ homeland has gone bankrupt). In fact, raskolnik means “schismatic, dissident”, since he deviates from moral standards by committing a crime. Along the way, his friend Dmitri P. Razumihkin (from razum, “reason, intelligence”) tries to guide him on the right path. And one of the secondary characters, Alexander G. Zametov, takes his last name from the verb zamyétit which means “to realize, to discover”. Unsurprisingly, he is one of the first to suspect Rodion and discover his secret.
EXAMPLE IN ENGLISH LITERATURE: HARRY POTTER (SAGA)
The magical universe that J. K. Rowling created in 1997 has been offering unique and unforgettable characters for more than twenty years. The characters in the stories about Harry Potter and his friends have names with hidden meanings about their personalities. One of the most hated/beloved characters thanks to the film adaptation is Severus Snape, and his name comes from the adjective severus (“serious”) and snape, a word that is reminiscent of the snake symbol of the Slytherin House to which he belongs. Some Hogwarts professors include Professor Minerva McGonagall (Minerva, the goddess of wisdom) and Professor Sprout, fittingly part of the herbology department. The antagonist par excellence, Voldemort, is also a pun on the French “vol de mort“, which refers to the idea of “escaping death”.
All these examples of charactonyms, and many more if we fully explore each work, are fascinating and offer rich new layers of meaning to the work. So, what strategies should we follow when localizing works like these and, consequently, their charactonyms?
Unfortunately, no universal strategy will work; instead, each project has its own specific needs. In general, there is a tendency to maintain charactonyms in translations, in other words, putting the name as it is found in the original version, since localizing names that are known to be foreign may seem strange to the reader. There are times, nevertheless, when these charactonyms play an important role in the work and their translation is therefore mandatory. Those who translate literature and other related content should be on the lookout for such particularities and choose an option that adapts to the final requirements.
Image reference: https://curiosfera-historia.com/teatro/
