Things that Place Names Do
Drawing on corpora from West Africa and Iceland, the article presents a fieldwork-based comparative exploration of ‘things that place names do’. Treating toponyms as performative elements of culture, we have observed striking parallels as well as differences in the uses of place names in both region...
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2022
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2022-2-453 |
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crnomosverl:10.5771/0257-9774-2022-2-453 2024-06-09T07:47:09+00:00 Things that Place Names Do Egeler, Matthias Lentz, Carola 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2022-2-453 unknown Nomos Verlag Anthropos volume 117, issue 2, page 453-466 ISSN 0257-9774 journal-article 2022 crnomosverl https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2022-2-453 2024-05-15T13:27:35Z Drawing on corpora from West Africa and Iceland, the article presents a fieldwork-based comparative exploration of ‘things that place names do’. Treating toponyms as performative elements of culture, we have observed striking parallels as well as differences in the uses of place names in both regions. Place names communicate spatial orientation; play an important role in the commemoration of people and events; mark claims of possession; support the construction of identity; sacralize landscapes; and voice moral reprimands. They can provide entertainment, by, for instance, inscribing ridicule into the land. They subvert as well as affirm hierarchies and power structures, and even play a role in interethnic conflict. Equally, they can become nuclei of storytelling, providing starting points for the invention of narratives. Showing the range of functions that place names can assume in two very different geographical contexts, the article presents a heuristic illustration of the potential of fieldwork-based approaches for toponomastic research. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Nomos Anthropos 117 2 453 466 |
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description |
Drawing on corpora from West Africa and Iceland, the article presents a fieldwork-based comparative exploration of ‘things that place names do’. Treating toponyms as performative elements of culture, we have observed striking parallels as well as differences in the uses of place names in both regions. Place names communicate spatial orientation; play an important role in the commemoration of people and events; mark claims of possession; support the construction of identity; sacralize landscapes; and voice moral reprimands. They can provide entertainment, by, for instance, inscribing ridicule into the land. They subvert as well as affirm hierarchies and power structures, and even play a role in interethnic conflict. Equally, they can become nuclei of storytelling, providing starting points for the invention of narratives. Showing the range of functions that place names can assume in two very different geographical contexts, the article presents a heuristic illustration of the potential of fieldwork-based approaches for toponomastic research. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Egeler, Matthias Lentz, Carola |
spellingShingle |
Egeler, Matthias Lentz, Carola Things that Place Names Do |
author_facet |
Egeler, Matthias Lentz, Carola |
author_sort |
Egeler, Matthias |
title |
Things that Place Names Do |
title_short |
Things that Place Names Do |
title_full |
Things that Place Names Do |
title_fullStr |
Things that Place Names Do |
title_full_unstemmed |
Things that Place Names Do |
title_sort |
things that place names do |
publisher |
Nomos Verlag |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2022-2-453 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Anthropos volume 117, issue 2, page 453-466 ISSN 0257-9774 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2022-2-453 |
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Anthropos |
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117 |
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2 |
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453 |
op_container_end_page |
466 |
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1801378077760028672 |