TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards a taxonomy of arguments for and against street renaming
T2 - Exploring the discursive embedding of street name changes in the Leipzig cityscape
AU - Buchstaller, Isabelle
AU - Schneider, Carolin
AU - Alvanides, Seraphim
PY - 2022/2/8
Y1 - 2022/2/8
N2 - In 2016, a special issue of the Linguistic Landscapes: An International Journal explored the nexus between LL and collective memory studies, calling for more research at the interface of these disciplines. Our analysis adds to recent studies by exploring the ways in which commemorative street renaming processes are discursively embedded. We build on research on memorialisation as well as critical toponymy to analyse media discourses that accompany, support or contest commemorative naming practices in the urban streetscape of a large East German city during the last century. Based on this dataset, we develop a typology of arguments against or in favour of street renaming. The longitudinal analysis of discourses in the local press vis-à-vis ongoing resemioticisation reveals a complex relationship between lived political history, freedom of the press, the type of argument and the stances encoded therein.
AB - In 2016, a special issue of the Linguistic Landscapes: An International Journal explored the nexus between LL and collective memory studies, calling for more research at the interface of these disciplines. Our analysis adds to recent studies by exploring the ways in which commemorative street renaming processes are discursively embedded. We build on research on memorialisation as well as critical toponymy to analyse media discourses that accompany, support or contest commemorative naming practices in the urban streetscape of a large East German city during the last century. Based on this dataset, we develop a typology of arguments against or in favour of street renaming. The longitudinal analysis of discourses in the local press vis-à-vis ongoing resemioticisation reveals a complex relationship between lived political history, freedom of the press, the type of argument and the stances encoded therein.
KW - critical toponymy
KW - commemoration
KW - collective memory
KW - street names
KW - media discourse
KW - East Germany
U2 - 10.1075/ll.21016.buc
DO - 10.1075/ll.21016.buc
M3 - Article
JO - Linguistic Landscape
JF - Linguistic Landscape
SN - 2214-9953
ER -