Who are we, where are we from, where are we going to?": Territorial identity in the urbanonymy of Kurgan City

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to assess the current state of representation of territorial identity in the urban name of the city of Kurgan (Southern Trans-Urals). Using the model of the semantic field of territorial identity, the authors consider the objectification of its components in topographical names forming the urbanonymic "framework" of the city. The scientific novelty of the work is determined by the approbation of an integrated approach to assessing the state of urbanonymy, and it consists of: 1) analysis of the urbanonymicon from the point of view of reflecting the key characteristics of the city in the motivational semantics of topographical names (the position of external observation); 2) identifying the assessments of the residents themselves regarding the established set of names as a means of conveying local flavor (an inside look). As a result of the study, semantic groups translating the features of territorial identity were established in the urbanonymic "framework" of Kurgan, some lacunae and poorly implemented nominative themes were revealed. The assessment of the compliance of the urbanonymy of Kurgan with the current ideas of the inhabitants about its identity gave results important for toponymic practices. The majority of respondents, noting some key characteristics of Kurgan in urbanonymy, nevertheless define its urbanonymic portrait as insufficiently representative to convey a modern flavor. This allows us to make recommendations on the correction of municipal toponymic policy.