Abstract

HARRIS, Mark. A story in names: the nickname, the first name and the surname in Pará, northern Brazil . Etnográfica [online]. 2008, vol.12, n.1, pp.215-235. ISSN 0873-6561.

This article examines three parts of a person’s name across three different periods in Pará, Brazil. The purpose is to consider whether the different aspects of a name form a system of relations, and how this system may be affected by extraneous pressures and influences. What do naming practices reveal about the person and the play of identities? The argument seeks to demonstrate the transgressive power of names, the way they move between contexts and subvert conventions. What role did names play amongst those that survived conquest and those that settled in the Portuguese Amazon? Pará is an interesting place to reflect on such questions because of the relative strength of Amerindian culture in the colonial and early imperial period and its mingling with Portuguese traditions. The conclusion suggests that names are central vehicles of cultural continuity.

Keywords : nicknames; history of Pará; missions; Cabanagem; amerindian; ribeirinhos.

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