Autore: Podemski, Piotr
Titolo: Toponymy as (Counter)revolution. The Case of Warsaw after the Collapse of the Communist Regime
Periodico: Memoria e ricerca
Anno: 2025 - Volume: 78 - Fascicolo: 1 - Pagina iniziale: 103 - Pagina finale: 122

In 1989 Poland’s communist regime collapsed, replaced by a new government presided over by the leaders of "Solidarność". Not only did this major breakthrough bring about a change of the former People’s Republic of Poland’s very name and coat of arms but also a (counter)revolution in toponymy: tearing down monuments while renaming streets and public spaces. The country’s transition from communism to capitalism was perhaps most vividly expressed in the former Dzerzhinsky Square being renamed as Bank Square. Thus the 1990s saw the first wave of the toponymic (counter)revolution, affecting streets named after the most prominent and widely known of the former regime’s officials and heroes, largely supported by the public opinion of that time. However, when a new wave of decommunization was launched by the right wing governments, led by the Law and Justice party, in the form of an act of parliament (2016) requiring local authorities to eliminate also more debatable streets’ patrons (leftist activists or victims, not always communist), the city of Warsaw’s liberal authorities and public opinion fiercely resisted this new politics of history. This story is indicative of Poland’s changing general cultural memory patterns.




SICI: 1127-0195(2025)78:1<103:TA(TCO>2.0.ZU;2-J
Testo completo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.14647/116255
Testo completo alternativo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.14647/116255

Esportazione dati in Refworks (solo per utenti abilitati)

Biblioteche ACNP che possiedono il periodico