Conceptualization of the Geographical Space of Russia and Russia’s Near Abroad (According to the Data on Geographical Objects’ Renaming)

The problem of mass renaming of geographical objects is considered an important socio-geographical problem. The main approaches to the study of geographical object renaming are considered. The conceptualization of the geographical space is an innovative cultural and geographical process, the purpose of which is to change the geographical picture of the world. Conceptualization is associated with a conscious desire to transform space by creating ideologically and/or status new places. There are some mechanisms for the conceptualization of geographical space–renaming a territory or place, raising the public status of a place (while maintaining the former geographical name), demolishing, moving monuments, and replacing old monuments and museums with new ones (“rebaptism” of the place). The hierarchical aspect of the “reconfiguration” of the space is considered, the places and territories subject to regular conceptualization are highlighted. The basic element of the conceptualization of space is a geoconcept: it represents a new, innovative, “name of a place,” which has connotative meanings that reflect a new idea or reveal a new associative image of a place. The article highlights the places and territories subject to regular conceptualization. These include new countries and their capitals, new regions, cities, and territories of cultural frontiers. The theoretical provisions are supported by the analysis of extensive material on renaming in 16 neighboring countries, covering more than 400 cities (capitals, regional and district centers); in total, about 700 cases of changing place names have been identified and analyzed over the past 120 years. The choice of the time frame of the study (20th–21st centuries) is associated to fix the pre-revolutionary, Soviet and post-Soviet state of the geocultural space. The collected material formed the basis for creating a directory of renamed cities in neighboring countries in the 20th–21st centuries. Typical examples of geoconceptualization at regional and local levels are analyzed–regional cities of Ukraine, the northern part of the Russian-Kazakh border, the central part of Tashkent.

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