Commemorative street naming practices in the border towns Frankfurt (Oder)/Słubice

Małgorzata Fabiszak, Isabelle Buchstaller, Anna Weronika Brzezińska, Seraphim Alvanides

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Abstract

This chapter explores the longitudinal effects of shifting geopolitical borders after World War II (WWII), which resulted in the division of the formerly unified town Frankfurt (Oder) into two cities at the Polish-German border. In 1945, the suburb of Dammvorstadt on the eastern side of the River Oder was allocated to Poland and renamed Słubice whereas the main part of Frankfurt (Oder) remained in Germany. Their geographical location in the Polish-German border region and a parallel post-WWII history of political regimes affiliated with the socialist Eastern Bloc followed by democracy makes these sister towns an ideal site for researching questions regarding time-space (dis)continuities in the linguistic landscape (LL). This article provides a longitudinal perspective on Frankfurt (Oder)/Słubice, focusing on the ramifications of the shifting border, including the complete population transfer in Słubice in contrast to the relatively stable settlement pattern on the German side of the River Oder. Such a comparative analysis of the ideological robe of the city (Zieliński 1994) not only allows for a deeper understanding of the dynamics of ideological marking of the urban scape; it also provides historiographic insights into the sociopolitical and cultural forces influencing the dynamics of odonymic choices.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSpace-Time (Dis)continuities in the Linguistic Landscape
Subtitle of host publicationStudies in the Symbolic (Re-)appropriation of Public Space
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Chapter8
Pages167-187
Number of pages21
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)9781040012215, 9781003311621
ISBN (Print)9781032318448, 9781032318493
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Mar 2024

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