Not sure if this has a specific term but basically I'm interested in books where the same character is referred to by a different name/title depending on the situation as a writing technique to show something about the character to the reader.
I can think of two examples I've come across recently:
- The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E.M. Anderson – The main character is immortal and keeps himself distant from the people he meets so that he doesn't get emotionally attached. He was referred to in the narration as "the groundskeeper" throughout much of the story, but then it would switch to "Peter" within a scene to highlight how he was being drawn into feeling connected to the people he met in a way he'd been avoiding for so long.
- The Duke at Hazard by KJ Charles – A historical romance where one of the main characters is a duke who has been smothered by people taking care of him and his every need since he was a child. In the story, he makes a bet with his cousin where he will be on his own for a month without any assistance so that he can gain some independence and life experience. The book generally referred to him as "the duke" but as he gained confidence in himself (and fell in love with someone who didn't know he was a duke ofc) the text would switch to "Cassian."
In both cases, it was really interesting to see how the author would use this switch between title/name to say something about the character's journey at different points in the story. Would love to see this or some variation of this in other books!
by alterVgo