Alessandra Cattani
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6233-2508 
Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italia

https://doi.org/10.4467/K7478.47/22.23.17735

Bipolar onomastics: Double anthroponym in the “Diary of Satan” by Leonid Andreyev

Abstract
The focus of this study is the presence of a complex onomaturgical technique in Leonid Andreyev’s novel “Diary of Satan”. In this work, Andreyev’s favorite themes are encapsulated: a pure man’s sadness in the face of the tragedies of an illogical and inexplicable universe, awful solitude, and a lack of optimism. Andreyev loved life, but in a terrible way: existential crises were continually punctuated by periods of sheer happiness, characterized by certainty about the future and Russia. There is speculation that Andreyev had bipolar disorder (Prochorova, 2018). The author’s dual split in ideas reverberates in his works and onomaturgy, particularly in the “Diary of Satan”. The purpose of this paper is to show how onomastic dualism applies to all the four characters in the story, who take on semantically coherent qualities and connotations based on the names by which they are identified. These meanings are invariably extreme (either Madonna or a prostitute; friend or foe; prince of evil or the most benevolent of men) and can be a proof of the author’s bipolarity. In our opinion, the artistic aim of the process of nomination follows a mythopoetic path. In keeping with his passion for the theater, Andreyev explores not only the dual nature of man but also the concept of “likeness”.

Keywords
bipolar disease, mythopoetic, onomastic dualism