The Naming Technique(s) in the Depiction of Characters and Development of Themes in Two Selected Xitsonga Novels

Abstract

This article explores how character naming is deployed as a technique to depict characters and develop themes in two selected Xitsonga novels, namely; …Swi tlula magandzelo (Shabangu, 2015) and Mibya ya nyekanyeka (Mtombeni, 2008). Undergirded by the Descriptive Theory of Names, this article reveals how the selected authors rely on literary onomastics as an effective technique in character depiction and thematic development. Content analysis was used to analyse the data that were collected through the documentation method and note-taking technique. It was found that some characters’ names have contextual implicatures while other names reflect their bearers’ personalities, behaviour, and/or situations. The choice of names in the selected novels was influenced by the writers’ cultural background as a Mutsonga. Thus, there is an interface between Xitsonga literary onomastics and the ideological outlook of the Vatsonga. Such an observation has momentous implications for onomastics, character portrayal and theme development.