URBAN TOPONYMY AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY: A CASE OF LAW-ENFORCED DECOMMUNIZATION OF STREET NAMES IN POLAND

Abstract

In April 2016, the Polish Parliament passed a law on decommunization. Its objective was to eliminate from Polish public space the names commemorating communism. The paper discusses the names, which were earmarked for change and presents means of implementing these changes. The study is grounded in the methodology of critical toponymy and onomastic discourse analysis. It reveals interconnections between names and politics, authority, discourse and collective memory.