%0 Journal Article
%T Who Is Hvalbiff? Name and Identity in W. F. Hermans¡¯s ¡°Beyond Sleep¡±
%A Karina van Dalen-Oskam
%J Oslo Studies in Language
%D 2012
%I University of Oslo
%X One of the functions of names in literary texts is Akzentuierung ¡ª Anonymisierung (accentuating ¡ª anonymizing) (Debus, 2002, 84). By giving a character a certain name, an author can accentuate that name and that character; conversely, by not providing a name where a name could be expected, an author can keep that person anonymous. Both approaches are deviations from ¡®normality¡¯. This paper proposes that the accentuating and anonymizing function of literary names can be closely linked to the idea of ¡®foregrounding¡¯ as developed in stylis- tic research. To illustrate this, this paper presents an analysis of the accentuating and anonymizing use of personal names in the novel Beyond Sleep (1966) by Willem Frederik Hermans (1921¨C1995), one of the most important 20th-century Dutch literary authors. This paper shows that the stylistic application of names that have an accentuating or anonymizing function is key to sustaining the plot of Beyond Sleep.
%U https://www.journals.uio.no/index.php/osla/article/view/322