Nomi di persona nella Foglia grigia di Alessandro Cannevale

Abstract

In Foglia Grigia, a gripping historical thriller set largely in the Perugia of the second half of the nineteenth century, Alessandro Cannevale shows particular interest in the names of his characters, who are sometimes characterized by the dialect they speak. Throughout the novel there is a distinct tendency towards diatopic connotation: first names and surnames almost always have some connection with the place of origin of the numerous characters that give life to the story. This goes not only for the main characters but also for those that play a minor part in the events narrated. The writer clearly has a liking for unusual, old-fashioned first names, which he assigns in particular to lower-class characters, while those belonging to the upper-middle class or the aristocracy have names that are rare or solidly traditional, such as those of princes, monarchs, emperors, and so on. The choice of names is pondered, almost never casual, as may be seen in the case of several «speaking names» (Libera, Conforto, Provvidenza, the latter used also in a diatopic sense), or highly expressive ones.