Names That Reveal, Names That Conceal: Literary Onomastics at MLA 2027

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 How much can a name really tell us? And just as importantly: how much can it hide?

These questions lie at the heart of an exciting new Call for Papers announced by the American Name Society for a thematic panel at the Modern Language Association Convention in January 2027. Titled “Names That Reveal; Names That Conceal: Onomastic Sleight of Hand in Global Literature,” the panel invites scholars to explore how names function as instruments of revelation, deception, misdirection, and symbolic play across literary traditions, genres, and media.

The panel will take place during the MLA Convention (#mla27), held 7–10 January 2027 in Los Angeles, California, and will be conducted in a virtual format, ensuring broad international participation.

When Names Become Narrative Strategy

From espionage novels and political allegories to drama, poetry, film, and song lyrics, names are rarely neutral. Authors routinely deploy anthroponyms, charactonyms, toponyms, theonyms, and institutional names to encode meaning, disguise intent, signal irony, or manipulate reader expectations. A seemingly transparent name may conceal a character’s true allegiance; a fabricated place name may echo real-world power structures; a symbolic name may operate as satire, caricature, or ideological critique.

This ANS panel focuses precisely on this onomastic sleight of hand—the deliberate tension between what names appear to disclose and what they strategically obscure. Contributors are encouraged to ask not only how names work in literary texts, but why authors choose particular naming strategies, and what cultural, political, or aesthetic work those names perform.

Submissions may address texts from any historical period, any geographical or linguistic tradition, and any medium, including literature, theater, film, television, digital narratives, or popular culture. Both real-world and fictional naming systems are welcome, as are comparative and theoretical approaches.

A Strong Onomastic Foundation

The call points to a rich scholarly framework in literary and rhetorical onomastics. Useful reference points include the long-standing research tradition represented in NAMES: A Journal of Onomastics, as well as major collective works such as Dorothy Dodge Robbins’ Literary Onomastics, Star Medzerian Vanguri’s Rhetorics of Names and Naming, and the Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming. Together, these works demonstrate how names operate at the intersection of linguistics, literary studies, cultural analysis, and semiotics - exactly the interdisciplinary space this panel aims to cultivate.

Submission Guidelines and Key Dates

Scholars wishing to participate should submit proposals by Monday, 16 March 2026 (11:59 pm EST). Submissions will undergo blind peer review, with notifications sent on or before 27 March 2026.

Proposals should be submitted by email to Dr. Anne W. Anderson, following these instructions:

• Email subject line: “MLA 2027 proposal”

• Email body: Include the proposal title and first line of the abstract, full name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation(s), and email address(es)

• Attachment: A PDF containing the proposal title, an abstract of 350–500 words, and a list of works cited
  (Do not include any author-identifying information in the PDF.)

Please note that scholars whose proposals are accepted must be members of both the MLA and the American Name Society in order to present. Memberships must be in place by 7 April 2026.

Why This Panel Matters

At a time when questions of identity, secrecy, power, and representation dominate both literature and public discourse, the study of names offers a uniquely precise analytical lens. This panel highlights how onomastics contributes not only to literary interpretation, but also to broader conversations about ideology, narrative control, and cultural memory.

For scholars working in literary onomastics, stylistics, narratology, cultural studies, or name theory more broadly, this ANS panel at MLA 2027 offers an excellent opportunity to bring name-focused research into dialogue with the wider humanities community.

Researchers interested in how names reveal and conceal meaning are warmly encouraged to submit proposals and take part in what promises to be a stimulating and wide-ranging scholarly exchange.

For questions regarding submissions, contributors may contact Dr. Anne W. Anderson directly.