The tradition of nickname-giving in children's culture

The article is devoted to the analysis of the tradition of nickname-giving in children's culture. Our research is based on the records of children's descriptions collected on the territory of one of Kemerovo's playgrounds. The children were aged from 6 to 13. For a modern child the courtyard locus and the playground is a special world's model, and the community of the courtyard becomes a model of the society, which forms a special type of relations. One of the courtyard signs that gives a child access to the courtyard culture is a nickname. It appears as a result of some ritual actions, which can be treated as initiation rites. The mentioned actions are based on the situation of over-coming of the inner fear, developing confidence and returning to the children's group in the new status. Several years ago the function of nickname-giving to a person in the considered courtyard group was performed by the Courtyard Council (including both oldest girls and boys), whose mission was to introduce younger children to the world of the playground. But this function has recently started to be allocated to one person - the oldest and most adroit boy. The image of the nickname-giver is surrounded with a lot of mythical ideas in the children's group. The tradition of nickname-giving exists outside the children's world. Some adults spending considerable time in the courtyard are given their own nicknames as well. This group includes old ladies, street and entrance cleaners and the homeless. There also are cases when adults used child'snicknames as his / her real name. The courtyard tradition creates its own time and space, its own system of relations between people. Getting a nickname is an important stage in establishment of the dialogue between a child and his surroundings. The nickname starts to be his / her identifier in this society (sometimes it can even replace his / her real name). The extent of prohibition of these names can be different; the nickname-giving person usually defines it. If it was given by the same age group representatives, it can be used freely, but if the courtyard leader gave it, or if a child has passed though some ritual actions to get it - he / she should keep this nickname in a secret. These secret nicknames can function only in a limited group that knows about its "inner form".

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