(Im)proper names from A to Z. Brief notes on names, identities, bodies and narrative agency

Abstract

This article is part of a research process that explores the relations, frictions, possibilities and transformations between names, bodies and identities. Based on the conception of proper names, understood as performative acts that not only describe the identity of the name bearer but create that very identity, this paper aims to analyse the proper name as a basic narrative structure sustaining over time the fiction of a homogeneous, stable and unified identity. From the perspective of critical thinking and anti-essentialism applied to the identity category, the proper name will be considered as a key element in the construction of individual identities and the embodiment of a fictional essence. Name changes thus point to a gap and a potential rupture, offering the opportunity to show us in a different light, while revealing the instability, re-articulation and heterogeneity of identities.