Shifting Borders – Shifting Languages: Investigating Commemorative Cityscape in Poznań and Słubice
Keywords
collective memory, commemoration, critical toponymy, ideology, language planning policy, linguistic landscape, street renamingAbstract
This article explores patterns of street renaming in two locations which over the last century were interchangeably controlled by Germany and Poland: Posen/Poznań and Dammvorstadt/Słubice. It examines how changes in the language of administration influenced their urban streetscape. The results demonstrate that there are several different semantic categories of street names which show varied affinity to change. Commemorative street names inscribing personal names are most prone to alteration, while those based on topology and landmarks are often translated from one language to another and retain their meaning. Street names based on place names are a heterogeneous category with directional names showing more stability than those which represent the national geographical imagery.
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