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November 13 & 14, 2025
Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3
Naming is an act that first echoes Saussure's question of the arbitrary nature of the
linguistic sign (does a sign have meaning in itself or does it only designate a referent?), but
also questions the performative power of language. If one can do things with words (Austin,
1962), then naming a place, a person, a community, an accent, an ethnic, political or social
group contributes to granting it a linguistic reality and recognizing its extralinguistic existence.
Paradoxically, naming or renaming shapes and orders the way we perceive the world, but it
also entails exclusionary mechanisms (Bourdieu, 1980). Thus, the original act of naming
constitutes a form of violence that imposes boundaries and attempts to define identities that are
by nature fluid and multilayered (Derrida, 1987-1993; Bhatia, 2005), and the act of renaming
can lessen or heighten this violence. These observations will lead us to consider several
approaches.
Papers related to onomastics will be welcome; studies on the subject (Hough, 2016)
examine the meaning and motive behind proper names, whether in toponomastics (place
names), anthroponymy (personal names) or socio-onomastics (studies of proper names in
social context). Sociology and history are also interested in the meanings and evolution of
names of places, particularly in public spaces (Mask, 2020a). For instance, the Black Lives
Matter movement has revived debates around these names, both in the United Kingdom and in
the United States (Mask, 2020b).
From an applied linguistics perspective, attention could be paid to the coexistence of
several signs for the same referent, such as a human referent in a sociocultural and interactional
approach (coexistence of first and/or last names, nicknames, or even insults). We could also
consider the creation, evolution, integration mechanisms and role of lexical or semantic
euphemistic neologisms in language, as related to the concept of euphemism treadmill (Allan
and Burridge, 2006).
Submissions in the field of English for Specific Purposes could focus on the
terminology used to name objects, concepts and notions in a specific field, as well as the
translation of these new terminological units. Moreover, researchers label and name certain
concepts, behaviours or sociological and historical phenomena, which some political
movements appropriate, hijack and distort in order to demonize them (critical race theory,
intersectionality...) (May, 2014; Ray, 2022). This relationship between academia and political
discourse is worth studying.
Sociologists analyse the evolution of identity markers (racial and gender categories,
etc.). These names or labels (Becker, 1966) can be assigned, adopted, claimed and/or undergo
a semantic shift: these changes reveal transformations in power dynamics and the acceptability
of “deviant” behavior (Goffman, 1963). Naming can also reflect the agency of dominated
people and groups; it can constitute a choice and a statement about the way they want to present
themselves and be perceived. A choice as personal as identity markers (first and last name) can
be a political act (Almack, 2005; Boxer, 2005; Benson, 2006; Edwards and Caballero, 2008;
Patterson and Farr, 2017). It can also be a matter of reclaiming a term historically used as an
insult in a perspective of self-affirmation and empowerment (Rand, 2014). In healthcare
studies, presentations could examine the way “pathologies” and “disordered” are named and considered over time— those labels may be questioned or not by those they refer to, as is the
case for addiction and trans identities among others (Stroumsa, 2014; Castro-Peraza et al.,
2019).
Naming practices are also examined in literature, as authors have often explored the
subtleties of identity and questioned the role of names in its construction. While names reflect
character traits, histories and symbolic meanings, the process of (re)naming often implies the
transformation or rejection of identities, as a result of personal or cultural struggles. The way
characters grapple with their names reflects their journey of self-discovery, resistance or
acceptance in the text. Literature thus reveals the act of naming as a complex, unstable process
that resists definitive closure, between the desire for a fixed meaning and the reality of inherent
fluidity or multiplicity. Through naming, we can open a debate on how readers are invited to
explore the complex layers of meaning in a text, questioning and redefining notions of self,
identity, society and reality. This exploration also raises the question of what is not named, of
what is at stake in silence, or even silencing. This can be unveiled through stylistic and
narratological choices, thus the choice to refuse or deny a name becomes central in the
interpretative process.
Among the possible avenues of inquiry, we will consider papers that fall under the
following themes:
➢ Naming, renaming people, characters and places: naming practices in
immigrant communities and by transgender people; choice of family names, in
particular in LGBTQ+ families; naming in the context of slavery; influence of
religion on naming practices (parents, conversion...); (mis)pronunciation of
foreign names; naming of communities; activism around names in public space:
cities, schools, streets; onomastic and narrative analysis.
➢ Reclaiming names: reclaiming “insults” as a way of asserting an identity
(queer, N-word, tranny…); political use or exploitation of scientific terms or
concepts (freedom, critical race theory, intersectionality, etc.).
➢ Power dynamics at work in naming processes: who has the power to
(re)name? What are the political, symbolic consequences of naming people and
groups? Which factors influence the choice of a name? Renaming in order to
politically demonize?
➢ Naming as classification: (re)defining literary and cinematographic genres;
evolution of names for “medical disorder” between pathologization or
empowerment; classifying acts and practices in order to forbid or punish them
more or less severely (war on terror, war on drugs, “obscenity”…)
Proposals of around 500 words in English or in French accompanied by a short biography
should be sent to namingconference@gmail.com before March 25th, 2025. We will consider
proposals analysing any English-speaking country, or adopting a comparative approach. All
approaches to the subject are welcome: historical, judicial, sociological, political, cultural
(literary, artistic, cinematographic…), economic. We welcome proposals from experienced
researchers, doctoral and other graduate students.
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