The Stage Names of Polish Interwar Artists

• Authors: Justyna Walkowiak
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Many performing artists in the interwar period in Poland assumed stage names, which were considered a tool of promoting one’s image, but also served other functions, such as the concealment of identity. Over two hundred such pseudonyms - together with the respective artists’ birth names - have been collected and analysed in the article. Approximately in the case of half of them was the original given name retained, and only the surname underwent a change. The comparison of the assumed names with the real ones shows that many names were shortened, and/or made to sound foreign or exotic. Minority surnames - Jewish/German, Russian, Ukrainian - were frequently made to sound Polish, while the Polish ones were foreignised (to make them look English, Italian, French) or vaguely exoticised.

Keywords

EN

Polish stage names; Polish artistic pseudonyms; interwar period; film actors; theatre actors

PL

polskie nazwy sceniczne; polskie pseudonimy artystyczne; okres między wojenny; aktorzy filmowi; aktorzy teatralni; polskie nazwy sceniczne; polskie pseudonimy artystyczne; okres między wojenny; aktorzy filmowi; aktorzy teatralni

• Publisher: Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk
• Journal: Onomastica
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 62
• Pages: 225-241

Dates

published

2018-11-10

Contributors

author

Justyna Walkowiak

Identifiers

DOI

10.17651/ONOMAST.62.11