Call Me By My Name

Naming Practices as Multilingual Devices in Italian Postcolonial Children’s Literature

Abstract

This article investigates naming practices in Italian postcolonial children’s literature. I define naming practices as a series of verbal figures that display affirmation of one’s own name. While multilingualism in children’s fiction has recently gained attention, names and naming practices are understudied, especially in contexts of migration. The aim of the article is twofold. First, it investigates how characters defy the mispronunciation of their names. Secondly, it discusses naming strategies in connection to categories of difference such as race, gender, and class in contemporary Italy. Finally, the article demonstrates that naming practices in Italian children’s literature disrupt the monolingual paradigm by representing a multilingual social texture; by doing this, I argue, they contribute to questioning racism and other forms of social oppression in contemporary Italy. This study sets the basis for future research on narrative strategies in multilingual literature in order to educate children in equality.