Personal Names in Asia: History, Culture and Identity - Couverture souple

NUS Press

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 9971693801 ISBN 13 : 9789971693800

Editeur : NUS Press, 2009

Synopsis

The world's population negotiates a multiplicity of naming systems. Some are compatible with the "normative" system of the world of passports and identity cards but a great many are not. This is particularly true in Asia, a region with some of the most sophisticated naming devices found anywhere in the world, including nicknames and teknonyms, religious and corporation names, honour and death names, pseudonyms and retirement names, house names and clan names, local and foreign names, official and private names.

People across the continent carry multiple names meaningful to different audiences. Some are used only in family relations while others locate individuals in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, caste, class, and nation. The centrality of names to many of the crucial debates and preoccupations of the modern world - identity, hybridity, migration, nationalism, multi-culturalism, globalisation - makes it particularly surprising that there has been little systematic comparative exploration of Asian names and naming systems.

This path-breaking volume classifies and theorises the systems underlying naming practices in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia where systems are abundant and fluid. Using historical and socio-anthropological perspectives, the authors of this exceptionally close collaborative effort show the intricate connections between naming systems, notions of personhood and the prevailing ethos of interpersonal relations. They also show how the peoples of Asia are fashioning new types of naming and different ways of identifying themselves to suit the demands of a changing world.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

ZHENG Yangwen is a Lecturer at the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures and Centre for Chinese Studies at the University of Manchester. Charles MACDONALD is a Senior Research Fellow of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) attached to the "Universite de la Mediterranee" in Marseille.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: NUS Press
• Date d'édition: 2009
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 9971693801
• ISBN 13: 9789971693800
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 339
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible