My first name, Victor, originates from Latin. It means victor, or conqueror. Its quite a universal name, and is pronounced very similarly in most languages, despite some languages spelling it differently (Viktor). Culturally, it seems to me like the name is more common in 'Latin' countries (France, Italy, Spain, etc.) or Eastern European countries (like Russia), in the form of Viktor, but this is my own personal observation, so it might not be necessarily true. As to how it affects my identity, I don't think it affects it very much. I'm not singled out or anything because of my name (I guess its quite international due to the Latin origin) like the author of that text we read about names in class was. I don't see myself as a conqueror, like my name suggests, but then again, who is a conqueror these days? However, I really dislike losing (who doesn't?), so that has to count for something, right? I guess the international nature of the name could be said to represent my life, due to me being an international as well. My last name, Mauring, is actually a completely made up name and does not seem to have a meaning. The reason this name came to be, was because my great-great grandfather happened to have the exact same name as some criminal. So he decided to change his name. I don't know what inspired him to change it to 'Mauring' though, as it is a made up name, and quite 'unique' I guess. I can't think of a way in which my last name has really affected my identity or life, no one has really questioned it to me. I would like to find out someday why he chose this particular name though.
Alice Munro’s short stories are usually about women and families from a suburban and or rural setting. She discusses topics such as gender roles and interpersonal relationships, usually from a woman’s perspective. What David Foster Wallace’s theory on education can do with this, is that it allows us, the reader, to adjust our perspective, to be sympathetic to the characters. Although I personally am not a girl growing up in a post-WWII Canadian small town, I can still relate to or at least empathise with the characters and their emotions that Munro has created. In Munro’s stories, her characters tend to have personal flaws or defy the tradition character ideals, for example the narrator in “Boys and Girls”, despite her desire to keep her role helping her father and dislike of the role women are designated for in her family, she ends up subconsciously transforming, until she starts to fit the mould of what her family and society says a woman should be. While we, the audience, may expec...
Nice post Victor! It is very interesting to know how your name + Family name have developed. and I never knew one could change a family name.
ReplyDeleteInteresting blog post, I like the diversity of your name, although is there any historic significance to it?, I find it somewhat unique to have a last name that has no meaning as you can perhaps craft your on definition that explains it.
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