Function, familiarity or fun?: Nicknames in Rehoboth, Namibia
Date
1988-10-24
Authors
Pearson, Patrick
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Abstract
Naming practices and the use of nicknames have received a fair
amount of attention from anthropologists over the years
- particularly from those who have worked in the Mediterranean
region and, to a lesser extent, other parts of Europe. Most current approaches tend to stress an underlying utilitarian
function of nicknames. It is noted that nicknames often occur in
communities in which there are a limited number of "proper" names
- either first names, surnames, or both - and that the use of
nicknames therefore serves to distinguish individuals who share
"proper" names, and who might otherwise be easily confused.
As a subsidiary argument, some authors suggest that nicknames also
serve to express social boundaries, and to facilitate their
maintenance. Nicknames are usually localised in their usage, and
knowledge of them serves to distinguish those who are from the
locality from those whose ignorance of nicknames marks them off as
strangers.
Other writers note that their use may also constitute a mechanism
of social control: a means through which the self-opinionated,
pompous, or merely stupid may be disciplined through mockery, and
effectively cut down to size. Quite closely related to this
approach is one which argues that the use of nicknames may be a
vehicle for male aggression, or simply male assertiveness.
The purpose of this paper is to present an example from Namibia,
and also to suggest that a new conceptualisation of nicknames may
prove profitable. I will examine the applicability of the
explanations mentioned above to the case presented, and then
discuss the humour generated by the use of nicknames. Although
many authors have referred to this aspect of nicknames none, to my
knowledge, have given serious consideration to it.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 24 October 1988
Keywords
Rehoboth Basters (African people). Names, Nicknames. Social aspects. Namibia. Rehoboth