Names and Naming in Young Adult Literature - Scarecrow Press

CHAPTER ONE
Names for Fun: M. E. Kerr,
Gary Paulsen, Louis Sachar,
and Polly Horvath
While humor scholars cannot agree on exactly what will amuse people,
they do agree that for something to be funny there have to be elements
of surprise or incongruity. Not all surprises are funny, but everything
that is funny contains something that is surprising. The pleasure comes
to people when their minds make a connection between two (or more)
unexpected or incongruous ideas.
To introduce this chapter and to illustrate some of the current theories
about what—in addition to surprise—brings the intellectual pleasure
of humor, we will outline some of the name-related features and
functions of humor as described by literary critics and scholars. Our illustrations
come from the books of M. E. Kerr, who since 1972, when
she won accolades with Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack, has relied on
names and naming practices to bring smiles, and sometimes outright
giggles, to her readers. The features and functions listed here are representative
rather than comprehensive because authors are always finding
new ways to surprise and amuse people with names, as shown by the
fuller examples presented in this chapter from books by Gary Paulsen,
Louis Sachar, and Polly Horvath.
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