Vol. 61 No. 1 (2013)
Research Article

Imperial Names for ‘Practical Cats’: Establishing a Distinctly British Pride in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats

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  • Dorothy Dodge Robbins
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/0027773812Z.00000000035

Published 2013-03-01

Keywords

  • ethnonymy,
  • race,
  • Census,
  • Muslim,
  • Middle Easterner,
  • Arab
    • ...More
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Copyright (c) 2013 American Name Society 2013

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Abstract

Abstract

T. S. Eliot provides three categories — the familial, the particular, and the secretive — to delineate the naming of cats in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats; however, the poet’s categories fail to explain completely his onomastic decisions. Instead, Eliot’s naming process reflects the Anglophile’s acquired British tastes. London, a city of Anglican churches and secular theatres, is home to Eliot’s fictional cats and an influence upon many of his name choices. Literary sources, in particular British Nonsense poets, provide additional inspiration for the 54 cat names mentioned in Eliot’s volume.

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