«Da più di sessant’anni per me è Lila». I nomi delle amiche geniali di Elena Ferrante

Abstract

This paper focuses on the variation of the names of the principal characters of the four books constituting the Neapolitan Novel by Italian writer, Elena Ferrante. This variation is essential in the construction of the complex and layered identity of Elena Greco and Raffaella Cerullo. The onomastic stages that the two girls go through, in fifty years of Italian history, highlight their relationship with the various identities, strongly desired or fiercely opposed, which they assume in the course of their lives.