Hispanic Place Names Through the Prism of Critical and Political Toponymy
https://doi.org/10.31857/S258755662105006X
Abstract
Since the beginning of the 21st century, many toponymic studies have focused on critical and political approaches, making critical and political toponymy relevant directions for the toponomastic studies. Using wider development of critical social theory, specialists have achieved significant success in explaining the motives and assumptions associated with place names. This led to an understanding of the processes related to the revision of some nominative trends. Hispanic place names, possessing the richest potential for research in general, eagerly respond to attempts of analyzing them through the prism of mentioned directions. The article presents the first results of the consideration of Hispanic place names by means of critical toponymic and political toponymic approaches. The author tries to define critical toponymy and political toponymy as scientific directions of onomastics, to designate a vector for activities within the framework of these academic aspects. The article provides information on general trends inherent to the critical and political perspectives of toponymic studies, and also concludes that not all previously described phenomena in this research field belong to Hispanic geographical names, while a number of trends are not included in the general list at all. The emphasis is placed on the frequent interweaving of critical and political toponymy in the study of urban nomenclature changes, and an explanation is given for such processes. As a proof, the author cites many examples of naming and renaming of Hispanic toponymic units and concludes on the prospects for further scientific research in the framework of critical and political toponymy.
About the Author
I. A. Martynenko
Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Moscow
References
1. Azaryahu M. The critical turn and beyond: the case of commemorative street naming. ACME: An International EJournal for Critical Geographies, 2011, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 28–33.
2. Azaryahu M. The power of commemorative street names. Environ. Plan. D: Soc. Space, 1996, vol. 14, pp. 311–330.
3. Basik S.N. Commodification of toponymy as a phenomenon of socio-economic and cultural geography. Vestn. MGOU. Ser.: Estestvennye Nauki, 2018a, no. 2, pp. 59– 70. (In Russ.).
4. Basik S.N. Critical toponymy as a direction of geographical research: problems and prospects. Geogr. Vestn., 2018b, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 56–63. (In Russ.).
5. Berg L., Vuolteenaho J. Critical Toponymies: The Contested Politics of Place Naming. Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publ., 2009. 291 p.
6. Boyd J. Selling home: Corporate stadium names and the destruction of commemoration. J. Appl. Commun. Res., 2000, vol. 28, no. 4, pр. 330–346.
7. Canache A. Estudios toponímicos en Venezuela. Una revisión a favor de un reconocimiento de su valor integral. Revista Peruana De Educación, 2021, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 49–60.
8. Çeti̇n R., Şentürk A. Critical toponymy: creating prestigious spaces through using urban names. Megaron, 2018, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 133–144.
9. Chesnokova O.S. Ispanskii yazyk Meksiki: yazykovaya kartina mira [Spanish Language of Mexico: Linguistic Picture of the World]. Moscow: RUDN, 2006. 238 p.
10. Chesnokova O.S., Martynenko I.A. Hispanic toponymy of the Philippines: structure and pragmatics. Acta onomastica, 2019, no. 2, pp. 171–185. (In Russ.).
11. de Certeau M. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. 1984. 230 p.
12. Golomidova M.V. Toponymic policy in the field of nomination of inner-city objects: theoretical and applied problems. Vopr. Onomastiki, 2018, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 36–61. (In Russ.).
13. Hagen J. Theorizing scale in critical place-name studies. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 2011, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 23–27.
14. Herman D. The Aloha state: place names and the anti-conquest of Hawai’i. In Critical Toponymies: The Contested Politics of Place Naming.
15. Berg L., Vuolteenaho J., Eds. Farnham, Surrey, Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publ., 2009, pp. 101–135. Issers O.S. Political toponymy 2012: signs of the current moment. Vestn. Omsk. Univ., 2014, no. 1, pp. 91–94. (In Russ.).
16. Johnson C., Balentine M. Politics in the landscape: Reading toponymy in political geography. In Proc. 20th Int. Seminar on Sea Names, Gyeongju, Korea, October 2014. Seoul: The Society for East Sea, 2014, pp. 27–36.
17. Leonovich O.A. Toponimy SShA: uchebnoe posobie. [Toponyms of the USA: A Textbook]. Moscow: Vyssh. Shkola Publ., 2004. 246 p.
18. Martynenko I.A. Belizean Spanish-speaking toponymy: linguo-pragmatic analysis. Mir Lingvistiki i Kommunikatsii: Elektronnyi Nauchn. Zh., 2019a, vol. 57, pp. 155–169. (In Russ.).
19. Martynenko I.A. Hispanic toponymy of Jamaica as an object of linguo-pragmatic research. Vestn. Volgograd. Gos. Univ., Ser. 2: Yazykoznanie, 2020, no. 6, pp. 123– 133. (In Russ.).
20. Martynenko I.A. Hispanic US toponominations: linguopragmatic analysis. Cand. Sci. (Philology) Dissertation. Moscow: The Peoples’ Friendship Univ. of Russia, 2015. 230 p.
21. Martynenko I.A. Mechanisms for renaming Hispanic toponymic units. In IV Firsovskie chteniya. Yazyk v sovremennykh diskursivnykh praktikakh [IV Firsov Readings. Language in Contemporary Discursive Practices.]. Moscow: RUDN., 2019c, pp. 266–271. (In Russ.).
22. Martynenko I.A. Toponymy of the Mariana Islands: reflection of the colonial past and modern development trends. Polit. Lingvistika, 2019b, vol. 77, no. 5, pp. 159– 170. (In Russ.).
23. Martynenko I.A., Il’ina A.Yu., Kupriyanova M.E. Toponymy of the Falkland Islands through the prism of territorial disputes. Polit. Lingvistika, 2019, vol. 74, no. 2, pp. 67–78. (In Russ.).
24. Membrado-Tena J.C., Fansa G. Toponimia, paisaje y ciencia. Cuadernos Geográficos, 2020, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 28–52.
25. Nikitin S.A. Linguistic aspects of renaming geographical objects in Russia. Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Philology) Dissertation. Moscow: The Inst. of Linguistics of the Russ. Acad. Sci., 2003. W17 p.
26. Pratt M. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation. London: Routledge, 2007. 296 р.
27. Raento P., Watson C. Gernika, Guernica, Guernica? Contested meanings of a Basque place. Polit. Geogr., 2000, vol. 19, pp. 707–736.
28. Rose-Redwood R., Alderman D., Azaryahu M. Geographies of toponymic inscription: new directions in critical place-name studies. Prog. Hum. Geogr., 2010, vol. 34, no. 4, pр. 453–470.
29. Sanchez A. Malos, Perros e Cas, topónimos interditos. Estudos de Lingüística Galega, 2014, vol. 6, pp. 217–231.
30. Sudar’ A.M. Socio-cultural aspect of the study of memorial place names of Argentina. Vopr. Ibero-Romanistiki, 2013, vol. 13, pp. 94–103. (In Russ.).
31. Terent’ev E.A. Theoretical and methodological conceptualization of toponymic practices (on the example of Moscow and St. Petersburg). Cand. Sci. (Sociol.) Dissertation. Moscow: HSE Univ., 2016. 235 p.
32. Urazmetova A.V. Renaming of the USA topographic objects. Dokl. Bashkir. Univ., 2016, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 383– 388. (In Russ.).
33. Wideman T., Masuda J. Assembling “Japantown”? A critical toponymy of urban dispossession in Vancouver, Canada. Urban Geogr., 2018, vol. 39, pp. 493–518.
Review
For citations:
Martynenko I.A. Hispanic Place Names Through the Prism of Critical and Political Toponymy. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya. 2021;85(5):763-772. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31857/S258755662105006X
Views:
342
Email this article 
