Petricchio like Narnia: The Fascination of Names in Fabienne Agliardi's Voiceless Village

Abstract

This essay examines naming strategies in Fabienne Agliardi’s novel Appetricchio. Through a style enriched by the sounds and rhythms of the local dialect, the author leads readers into the heart of Lucania, to a village that has voluntarily isolated itself from the outside world and modernity. In Petricchio, a “fantastic
place excluded from maps and off the beaten track,” names do not merely function as referential labels; rather, they serve as instruments of memory, belonging, and social recognition, playing an active role in the construction of the narrative world. Readers are confronted with a complex naming system shaped by the shifting relationships among given names, surnames, and nicknames, encountering clues and subtle connections that invite interpretation. The onomastic dimension proves particularly revealing: in Petricchio, an Italian Macondo, names are often telling names, sometimes deceptive, yet always evocative of stories.