Irish Placenames: Post-Colonial Locations

Irish Placenames: Post-Colonial Locations

The names of places speak of complicated cultural geographies of language and location. Placename changes have often been explored as examples of power-laden contests over the meaning of places and collective identities. Yet projects to research, preserve and reinstate Gaelic placenames in contempor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transactions - Institute of British Geographers (1965) 1999-01, Vol.24 (4), p.457-480
Main Author: Nash, Catherine
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Bgi / Prodig
Cultural identity
culture
Historical geography
Historical section
identity
Ireland
Irish culture
Irish history
Irish literature
Irish poetry
Irish politics
Irish resistance
Names
placenames
politics
post-colonialism
Toponymy
Townlands
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Summary:The names of places speak of complicated cultural geographies of language and location. Placename changes have often been explored as examples of power-laden contests over the meaning of places and collective identities. Yet projects to research, preserve and reinstate Gaelic placenames in contemporary Ireland (both North and South) raise more complex questions of cultural identity, authenticity and diversity. These questions are central to post-colonial cultural politics. By combining ideas of pluralism, multiplicity and diversity with those of authenticity, belonging and truth, these contemporary placename projects represent efforts to reimagine concepts of identity, cultural location and tradition. They suggest ways to negotiate the theoretical contradictions between and practical politics of critiques of colonial cultural suppression and celebrations of cultural retrieval.
ISSN:0020-2754
1475-5661