Elvis and Elvis

I’d like to focus more closely on Elvis’ name and it’s relationship to Elvis Presley. At the time Elvis was born, Elvis was still alive, but his image we currently have in our cultural memory is very different from what elvis looked and acted like towards the end of his life and career. Above are images from both his early career and his last performance. The Elvis we remember as a world culture is certainly the younger one, but the older Elvis certainly exists in our memory. Regardless of what Presley was towards his death, the image of the youthful, roguish Elvis persists in the cultural memory, and especially in the movies he produced. The problem is, the cultural references is an outdated one, and furthermore a presentation of an outdated, idealized image of America. This comes to represent and reflect the kind of globalized, imported culture that Lagos is. 

So what does that have to do with Elvis? Being named after an American Rock and Roll star draws a connection between Elvis of Lagos and Elvis Presley, and not only a cosmetic one. In fact, Elvis’ name has played a major roll in the development of Elvis’ identity. Without being named Elvis, it is likely that he would have never become an Elvis impersonator, which is one of the defining characteristics of Elvis. ALSO: An interesting link about African names imported into the American naming society.