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Part of
Language in Place: Stylistic perspectives on landscape, place and environment
Edited by Daniela Francesca Virdis, Elisabetta Zurru and Ernestine Lahey
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 37] 2021
► pp. 167–188

Chapter 9
Naming as styling

Inauthenticity in building names in Singapore

ORCID logo | National University of Singapore |

This chapter examines the notion of authenticity as applied to building names in Singapore. The city itself is seen as a multi-authored text, and constitutes a kind of narrative within which building names form an important element. An initial definition of authenticity is developed based on ideas of names being true to the entity’s identity or destiny; choice in naming is seen as style which signals meaningful elements linked to identity. This, however, is problematised in the context of multiple and changing identities; postmodernism also challenges the notion of fixed or non-negotiable identities. Modernist and postmodernist approaches to the notion are therefore contrasted, and particular features of building names are discussed as to whether these can be seen as touchstones of inauthenticity: the languages represented, their grammaticality, orthographic manipulation and name coinages. The conclusion is that the notion of authenticity might be a less useful concept in the postmodernist world.

Keywords: authenticity, onomastic theory, postmodernism, Singapore, true name
Article outline
  • 1.The city as text
  • 2.Style and styling
  • 3.Style and names
  • 4.Authenticity and names
  • 5.The postmodern turn
  • 6.Building names
    • 6.1“Wrong” language
    • 6.2Grammatical illiteracy
    • 6.3Orthographic manipulation
    • 6.4Invented names
  • 7.The postmodernist response
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 15 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.37.09tan
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