'You don't mind my calling you Harry?'

Peter Backhaus

doi:10.15462/ijll.v9i4.126

Abstract

This paper examines the use of address terms in John Updike's Rabbit books ((Updike 1995). As will be argued, the data provide a unique, long-term perspective on how an individual is addressed in American society. The first part of the analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the great variety of address terms used towards the protagonist, Harry Angstrom, in the decades covered by the books. In a second step, the paper focuses on two important side characters to examine how their address behavior changes through the course of the series. The main aim of the paper is to demonstrate the great potential of fictional data for the study of address terms and, vice versa, how the study of address terms can contribute to a more profound understanding of a literary text.

Highlights

When John Updike first started experimenting with the motif of the ‘Ex-Basket Player’ in the early days of his career (Updike 1958, 1959), he could not have known that he was going to create one of the central monuments of American postwar literature
Many of the expressions are standard elements of the American address term system, while others are highly individualized terms that appear to be tailored for a given person (Rabbit) or purpose
The aim of this paper has been to demonstrate how works of literary fiction can be used as a resource for studying terms of address, and how terms of address provide novel ways of ‘access’ to a literary text

Summary

Introduction

When John Updike first started experimenting with the motif of the ‘Ex-Basket Player’ in the early days of his career (Updike 1958, 1959), he could not have known that he was going to create one of the central monuments of American postwar literature. In the very center of it are the doings and misdoings of a Pennsylvanian everyman who is both utterly normal and yet very special This article uses the densely woven fabric of Rabbit’s world to study terms of address. The analysis will both derive and reconfirm some general trends about address terms in American postwar society. The ultimate goal is to (1) illustrate the overall potential of fictional data for studying the social phenomenon of how people refer to one another, and (2) demonstrate how a systematic analysis can enhance our understanding of address terms as a literary device.

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion