Wordplay with Names and Onomaturgic Constructions in L’enfant léopard (1999) by Daniel Picouly

Abstract

The aim of the research is to verify in what way the onomastic devices found in the French novel L’enfant leopard [The Leopard Boy] (1999) by Daniel Picouly determine a potentially plural reception of the text referring to one’s historical, fictional, and rhetorical competence. Devoted primarily to the literary onomastics, the analysis focuses on identifying various contexts reused by the author of the novel and from which he draws the names of the characters and places of his fictional universe. Proper names can be understood as historical references which fulfil the function of authenticating the story, serve as referential anchoring of the narrative, and include intertextual references only a reader of deep literary awareness can grasp. And finally, proper names can be understood as imaginary onomaturgic constructions devised by the author, who employs linguistic and rhetorical strategies to achieve the ludic character of the text. The study reveals the story-building process and by following the onomastic traces, it captures the very method of literary creation adopted by the author.