The motif of the doppelgänger has been present in literature and the visual arts, but also, more or less concealed, in music, from classical antiquity until today and may manifest itself in the most various forms, dependent on genre, epoch, and culture. This has led criticism to consider the motif of the doppelgänger as a genre in its own right and to propose, especially during the last years, numerous classifications of the ways in which this psychological and anthropological phenomenon is treated in the arts. In the present study I have concentrated my attention on creations in which the doppelgänger represents the disturbing aspects of the hero’s ego. This motif was especially prominent in German late romanticism and has considerably spread during the last decades in cinematography and in fantastic literature. Though there exists a large amount of criticism on the motif of the doppelgänger, what has hardly been analyzed up to now is the role of the characters’ and their doppelgängers’ names. Therefore the aim of my study was to exemplify by means of numerous examples from antiquity until present times the role the proper name has played in literature and other arts dedicated to the theme of the doppelgänger.

In comparison with personal names toponyms have been rather neglected in studies on literary onomastics. Place names may seem less promising for onomastic research because authors tend to anchor their narratives in the actual world much more than characters. However, place names in literature fulfil important tasks: they mainly contribute to the fictional constitution of space. The question whether the actual counterparts of fictional place names are of any importance for the reader has been discussed very controversially. But place names may also help to create a certain mood or local colour. They even may indicate the passing of time. As all these phenomena are based on mental processes which take place in the reader’s brain this paper tries to study them with the help of actual cognitive science.

In comparison with personal names toponyms have been rather neglected in studies on literary onomastics. Place names may seem less promising for onomastic research because authors tend to anchor their narratives in the actual world much more than characters. However, place names in literature fulfil important tasks: they mainly contribute to the fictional constitution of space. The question whether the actual counterparts of fictional place names are of any importance for the reader has been discussed very controversially. But place names may also help to create a certain mood or local colour. They even may indicate the passing of time. As all these phenomena are based on mental processes which take place in the reader’s brain this paper tries to study them with the help of actual cognitive science.

The motif of the doppelgänger has been present in literature and the visual arts, but also, more or less concealed, in music, from classical antiquity until today and may manifest itself in the most various forms, dependent on genre, epoch, and culture. This has led criticism to consider the motif of the doppelgänger as a genre in its own right and to propose, especially during the last years, numerous classifications of the ways in which this psychological and anthropological phenomenon is treated in the arts. In the present study I have concentrated my attention on creations in which the doppelgänger represents the disturbing aspects of the hero’s ego. This motif was especially prominent in German late romanticism and has considerably spread during the last decades in cinematography and in fantastic literature. Though there exists a large amount of criticism on the motif of the doppelgänger, what has hardly been analyzed up to now is the role of the characters’ and their doppelgängers’ names. Therefore the aim of my study was to exemplify by means of numerous examples from antiquity until present times the role the proper name has played in literature and other arts dedicated to the theme of the doppelgänger.