The category of collective memory in urbanonymy

Abstract

Collective memory is a tool of cognition, and at the same time it plays a culture-creating role. In order to exist, it must be constantly updated: frequently recalled, reinterpreted, reinforced. In this process, names play the role of a peculiar means of encoding memory for several reasons: they are fairly permanent, permanently assigned to specific denotatives, and have the ability to connote multiple contents. The subject of consideration in this article is an analysis of the elements of collective memory encoded in the names of objects of urban space: an attempt to systematize the ways of interpreting and transmitting this memory, as well as an assessment of the role of different types of motivational names in memory-forming processes. In the context of urban names, it is also important to ask about the relationship between memory, forgetfulness and repression, and to seek answers to the questions what elements are sometimes erased from the naming space of the city, what nomination practices lead to a “dialogue of memory” and which to a “conflict of memory”, how history and politics control memory-forming mechanisms through onimia.