[HPforGrownups] Re: First names (was Snape: The fact that he exists)

[The Crashing Boar]

No: HPFGUIDX 71512

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: corinthum 

  <snip>But is it actually considered disrespectful to
  address a peer (as in Snape's and Lupin's case) by his or her first
  name?  I certainly never even considered that Lupin could be insulting
  Snape by using the name Severus. >>>

  Being addressed by a peer by your first name implies an intimacy (as in comradship/friendship), something which Snape shies from.  Whatever point Lupin is trying to make, he is rubbing Snape up the wrong way by insisting on using 'Severus'.


  >Also, regarding Dumbledore's use of first names, I think you missed my
  point.  Dumbledore does not assume his age and position give him
  permission to use first names.  He uses them with people who would
  usually require respect; <snip>  In the opposite direction, he
  refers to his students by their first names at all times<snip>  He refuses to accept the societal and cultural hierarchy that says certain people(of a certain age, rank, or position) are more important than others.
  Eliminating all titles helps establish this viewpoint. >>>

  
  Dumbledore is a more powerful wizard than most (if not all) others.  As a result, his insistence on using first names is a more subtle power game. He strips you of all rank (earned or inherited) and family association, implies he looks on you with favour (which also implies his superiority to you), and initiating the tone of any negotiations/conversations he gets involved with (by choosing the form of address, he controls the power balance).  He can also allow for his own assement of each persons worth, without offering disrespect to someone he may consider less worthy than the other in some fashion, but holding a higher rank.  Therefore, he is not making an assumption, but a point.

  Basically, he has both the power and temperment to stand outside the usually social posturings.  This doesn't mean he treats everyone as equals, but that he has no need to consider any of the ranking the rest of society uses, simply relying on his own judgement.  A subtle but important difference.

  Plus, most of the present (British)WW seems to have been a pupil of his at one time or another!

  Dawn