Strategies of Naming in Selected Novels of Alain Mabanckou

Abstract

This paper investigates specific naming strategies in selected novels of Alain Mabanckou, namely, African Psycho, Verre Cassé, and Black Bazar. Using the theory of foregrounding and close reading as methodology, the research explores syntactically and semantically how names in the selected texts stylistically mirrored contemporary African harsh societal realities and the damnés de la terre experiences while maintaining a high level of aesthetic. The study underlines that among the numerous forms of stylistic techniques deployed by the writer, naming of characters in the form of coining, neologism and compounding, stands out as a creative stylistic tool in the creation of the chosen texts, reflecting the experiences of Africans in the writer’s home country of Congo Brazzaville and the black man’s experience as an immigrant in France, respectively. The analysed names in the selected texts create new forms of register and emphatically projects the overall message of the writer in the chosen texts while underlining the anatomical and psychological composition of the characters, their social involvements, and their origins. The research concludes that the act of naming characters in the context of usage in the text is not only a stylistic tool but a linguistic one that aids in foregrounding specific messages of the writer wherever it is deployed in the texts.