Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6.19
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales.
The town with
the self-proclaimed longest name in the world attracts hordes of tourists each year to a place
whose claim to fame is largely its name.
© Alexander B. Murphy.
call and map the islands as the Malvinas. The war ended in
a matter of weeks, but the underlying dispute lingers, and
so do both names.
Toponyms are part of the cultural landscape.
Changes in place-names give us an idea of the layers of
history, the layers of cultural landscape in a place. For
example, on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, where Clare
Swan (whom we cited earlier in this chapter) is from,
the changing place-names give us insight into iden-
tity questions in the place. Natives in one town on the
Kenai Peninsula called their home Nanwalek in the early
1800s; when the Russians came in and took over the pen-
insula, they changed the name to Alexandrof. Americans
mapped Alaska and then made it a State, and in the pro-
cess, they changed the name to English Bay. In 1991, the
townspeople changed the name of their home back to
Nanwalek. When you arrive in Nanwalek, you will see
native people, see signs of the Russian Orthodox religion,
hear them speak English, and then talk with the native
people who are reviving their native language and cul-
ture. The changes in the place-name provide insight into
the cultural landscape.
Changing Toponyms
Tuan explained that when people
change the toponym
of
a place, they have the power to “wipe out the past and
call forth the new.” For example, people in a small town
in Wales feared the loss of the Welsh language and
despised the role the English had played in diminish-
ing the use of the Welsh language. They also wanted
to boost their local economy by attracting tourists to
their town. A century ago, the people renamed their
town with a Welsh word unpronounceable by others:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio
gogogoch (Fig. 6.19). The name accurately describes
the town in northern Wales, “The Church of St. Mary
in the hollow of white hazel near the rapid whirlpool by
the church of St. Tysilio of the red cave.” Since 1988,
Wales has had an offi cial policy of teaching both Welsh
and English in the schools in order to preserve and boost
usage of the Welsh language. Pronouncing the name of
this town correctly is now a benchmark for students learn-
ing Welsh, and the residents of the town take pride in
their ability to pronounce it.
Postcolonial Toponyms
The question of changing toponyms often arises when
power changes hands in a place. When African colonies
became independent countries, many of the new gov-
ernments immediately changed the toponyms of places
named after colonial fi gures. The new governments
