storytelling through names
means of archiving
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/archive
name (n.) "word by which a person or thing is denoted,"
Names. Everyone has one, most people have a vague idea what their own means, but few give them much more thought. The study of names is called onomastics, a field which touches on linguistics, history, anthropology, psychology, sociology, philology and much more.
When people refer to the "meaning of a name", they are most likely referring to the etymology, which is the original literal meaning. This website looks at the etymology and history of all types of given names.
the history of names
names means：
why names matter：
Names matter. Central to identity, names influence who we are and how others view us. But even more important, names carry a story – a story of the past, perhaps carried across oceans or passed down through generations. They are attached to something or someone, or created and given to us. In some cases names can have the power to alter us, to give us agency, or, as history teaches – to erase us. Enslaved people were assigned the names of their masters, a process of dehumanization with the aim of obliterating people’s sense of self and identity.
The story of our name is another window into the examination of identity and the connection we can make with others.
Not all names are in our personal repertoire. Names can be cultural, religious, ancestral, or invented. Many people live day to day with the looming dread of someone mispronouncing their name in an initial meeting, mistaking it on the first day of school, or misspelling it on a Starbucks cup. To hear one’s name repeatedly mispronounced or misspelled is often so frustrating that people may alter the spelling or pronunciation to make it easier for others. Anglicizing, Americanizing, or simplifying names is easier for assimilation, but at what cost to the bearer of the name?
If we want kids to have a strong sense of self, we can celebrate names and the stories behind them. We can also teach kids to ask us about and understand the importance of names to others. https://blog.heinemann.com/what-are-name-stories
about chinese names：
Chinese names consist of a surname (xìng 姓) and a given name (míng 名 or míngzì 名字), usually presented in that order. When transcribed into western writing, the characters of the given name are sometimes written separately. Thus Mao Zedong is often written as Mao Ze Dong.
Traditionally, Chinese could assume additional names at other times in their life. These include the zì 字 (called a courtesy or style name), acquired upon reaching maturity, and the hào 號 (called an art name), a self-selected nickname. These types of names have become rare since the latter half of the 20th century.
Chinese given names usually consist of two syllables (though it is also common to only use one). Those syllables can be any of the thousands of Chinese characters so the combinations are almost limitless. In practice some characters are chosen more often than others, such as Mei "beautiful" for girls. Sometimes the first character of the given name is shared by all members of a generation in a family (siblings, cousins, etc) - see generation name. Chinese parents do not typically name babies after relatives or famous people.
https://heraldry.sca.org/names/namehist.html
https://www.zdic.net/zd/zx/jw/%E5%90%8D
https://surnames.behindthename.com/
personal
archive
-Yichun Tang
the interview
with my parent：
https://namestories.com/pages/history-of-naming
general methods of how chinese give names：
https://www.huimingcn.com/names/566.html
1. trend
2.taboo
3. gender
4. the form of the character
5. the sound/ pun / homophones
interesting read：understanding languages
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2016.00026
visualization of the interview
the history of chinese names
https://www.chedonna.it/2020/07/28/nome-figlio-nonni/
Carlotta Research & Process
interview with my mother
FAIRYTALES AND HOW THEY VARY PER COUNTRY & OVER TIME
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/19/here-is-a-story-story-it-is-how-fairytales-are-told-in-other-tongues
Storytelling
links to sites about afrikan names
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24349783
https://www.familyeducation.com/life/african-names/finding-our-history-african-american-names
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37912748
My Name
Recorded interview with my father
response to the interview
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personal archive lovely
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Carlotta
Name origin
The Italian version of an old german name.
Charles and Carl are the old male versions.
The German equivalent to Carlotta would be Charlotte.
Carlotta means "free man" and is associated with strength.
(Sketch)
Recorded interview with my mother
Personal Archive
Creating a response to the Interview
First failed attempt:
Second attempt:
https://youtu.be/xwclblaaamI
Working on this project made me think about my name for the first time. Prior to this, I had never talked to my parents about it and the background behind their choice. Getting new insights about my name was in a way conflicting. It brought me closer to it and made me feel connected, as I got to learn about the stories and ideas behind it. However, it also brought up questions and associations, which was in a way unsettling.
I welcomed the opportunity to create something physical and experiment with poetry writing.
Reflection: