The significance of selected characters' personal and family names in the Shona novels, Pfumo Reropa and Mubairo

Some Shona writers exploit purposeful naming in their literary works. They use personal and family names that carry various suggestive details about the characters and their experiences or which serve as precursors to the story plot. Using the classical or sense theory of proper names, this article discusses the use of Shona names in Pfumo Reropa and Mubairo and observes that the names play a central and very important role in the literary works. They go beyond individualising the characters and families to being pointers to the qualities and/or behaviour of the bearers, and illuminators of the plot of the novels. In addition, some names convey characters' experiences and gender dynamics, while others reinforce particular themes, with yet others, serving sarcastic or satirical purposes. These observations have significant bearing on onomastics, literary characterisation and further research

Genealogy · Linguistics · Shona · History · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research · Philosophy · Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism