The Subversive Dedication and Public Name-Making

Sor Juana's works included elaborate dedications to powerful patrons, carefully crafted prefatory poems by other authors, and strategic positioning within courtly and ecclesiastical hierarchies. These were not mere formalities but conscious acts of name-making—establishing who she was publicly by controlling who acknowledged her and in what terms. This concept examines how individuals across cultures strategically use social protocols of acknowledgment and dedication to construct their public identities. By choosing patrons, allies, and endorsers, one shapes how one is named by the broader culture. These practices can be subversive: Sor Juana used dedications to women patrons and intellectual allies to carve out space for female intellectual authority. The principle applies to anyone navigating hierarchical cultures—understanding that public name-making involves strategic relationship-building and the careful curation of who voices your identity. In contemporary contexts, this appears in everything from social media presence to academic citations to professional networking. Identity naming is not private but social, and controlling those social contexts shapes how you are known.