Place-Name Politics in Multilingual Areas: A Comparative Study of Southern Carinthia (Austria) and the Těšín/Cieszyn Region (Czechia) (Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities)

Place-Name Politics in Multilingual Areas: A Comparative Study of Southern Carinthia (Austria) and the Těšín/Cieszyn Region (Czechia) (Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities)
“by: Peter Jordan (Author),Přemysl Mácha(Author),Marika Balode(Author),Luděk Krtička(Author),Uršula Obrusník(Author), Pavel Pilch(Author),Alexis Sancho Reinoso (Author)”
Publisher:Palgrave Macmillan
Edition:1st ed. 2021
Publication Date: 1 Aug. 2021
Language:English
Print Length:641 pages
ISBN-10:3030694879
ISBN-13:9783030694876
Book Description
This book explores the role of place names in the formation and maintenance of individual and group identities in multilingual and multi-ethnic situations. Using examples from Austria and Czechia as case studies, the authors examine the power of place names through an interdisciplinary and multi-methods approach that draws from the fields of anthropology, geography, sociolinguistics and toponomastics. The book contextualises both places within their social and political histories, and probes recent debates in the social sciences relating to place names, identity and power. It will be of interest to scholars and students focusing on place names and naming practices, minority communities and languages, and linguistic landscapes.
About the Author
Review “This book covers an exciting and dramatic theatre staged on two poles of Central Europe – the Carinthian and Těšín/Czieszyn multicultural regions, with place names in the main role. Authored by an interdisciplinary team of Austrian and Czech experts, the text focuses on the actors of naming processes, people’s identity, linguistic landscape, naming policy, and place names perception as well. The book brilliantly compares the situation in the regions with complicated minority structures.” (Jaroslav David, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic) “This remarkable work makes a valuable contribution to the discipline, investigating new areas through interdisciplinary comparison of similarities and differences between two ethnically and historically (and especially socioeconomically and politically) different bilingual areas. It compares the German and Slovenian ethnic groups in Austrian Carinthia, and the Czech and Polish (both Slavonic) ethnic groups in Silesia, highlighting the important role of local dialects and their regional identities.” (Drago Kladnik, Retired Scientific Advisor, Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU, Slovenia) From the Back Cover This book explores the role of place names in the formation and maintenance of individual and group identities in multilingual and multi-ethnic situations. Using examples from Austria and Czechia as case studies, the authors examine the power of place names through an interdisciplinary and multi-methods approach that draws from the fields of anthropology, geography, sociolinguistics and toponomastics. The book contextualises both places within their social and political histories, and probes recent debates in the social sciences relating to place names, identity and power. It will be of interest to scholars and students focusing on place names and naming practices, minority communities and languages, and linguistic landscapes. Peter Jordan is Honorary and Associate Professor in the Institute of Urban and Regional Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria, and Research Fellow of the University of the Free State, Faculty of the Humanities, South Africa.Přemysl Mácha is a Researcher at the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia. Marika Balode is currently pursuing an MA in the Institute of Geography and Regional Research at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria.Luděk Krtička is Assistant Professor at the Department of Human Geography and Regional Development, University of Ostrava, Czechia. Uršula Obrusník is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, UK. Pavel Pilch is Assistant Professor of Slavic Philology in the Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, where he is also pursuing his PhD.Alexis Sancho Reinoso is a Researcher in the Centre for Global Change and Sustainability at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria. About the Author Peter Jordan is Honorary and Associate Professor in the Institute of Urban and Regional Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria, and Research Fellow of the University of the Free State, Faculty of the Humanities, South Africa.Přemysl Mácha is a Researcher at the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia. Marika Balode is currently pursuing an MA in the Institute of Geography and Regional Research at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria.Luděk Krtička is Assistant Professor at the Department of Human Geography and Regional Development, University of Ostrava, Czechia. Uršula Obrusník is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, UK. Pavel Pilch is Assistant Professor of Slavic Philology in the Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, where he is also pursuing his PhD.Alexis Sancho Reinoso is a Researcher in the Centre for Global Change and Sustainability at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria. Read more