Personal name symbolization in selected works of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6030320
AutoresUzoma Okoro (0009-0008-8549-7103, Pan-Atlantic University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Páginas1-19
Fecha de publicación2025-02-14
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrican Identities (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1472-5843 • E-ISSN: 1472-5851
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14725843.2025.2467207
OpenAlexW4407564995
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas15

Personal names in a novel are important tools to convey aspects of history, self-image, social status, and identity. Names to the Igbo people are imperishable records of their lives with thoughts, feelings, desires, struggles, successes and failures. This case study analyses the name-symbolization and Igbo naming cosmology in selected texts of Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun. Using the Literary Onomastic paradigm, the symbolic use of names in the texts as literary techniques for character development, foreshadowing, and thematic exploration is examined. Also, the text is diachronically placed according to their representation of Nigeria’s historical timeline. Findings suggest that both authors strategically engage in symbolic use of names imbuing them as literary techniques to authenticate their depiction of the Nigerian experience. The study reveals that the authors, Achebe and Adichie, deploy the Igbo naming cosmology as literary techniques serving as cultural and historical markers in the literary texts

Art · Literature · Gender Studies in Language · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Translation Studies and Practices