The desire to get rid of the “glorification” of the USSR and Russia in the names of Ukrainian streets as soon as possible is quite normal, but it is important to do it right.
In connection with the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in Ukrainian cities accelerated the process renaming streets and other place names , pov connected not only with the USSR, but also with Russia and Belarus. For example, in Kyiv, 279 place names were allocated for online collection of proposals from citizens on renaming only a week, and in Kharkiv, according to reports on the city hall's website, it is not even clear how long it will take to collect information for the renaming. Regarding the situation in Kharkiv, the deputy of the Kharkiv regional council Serhiy Zhukov drew attention to the problem and proposed concept harmonious renaming of toponyms, which he developed with historian Maria Takhtaulova in 2015.
“Kharkiv City Council announced the cleansing of the toponymic space of our city from Russian colonial names. This is to be welcomed. On the website of the City Council offer to leave their proposals in a special form. According to the mayor's office, it is not clear how long the information will be collected, systematized and whether there will be a wide discussion. According to preliminary estimates, there are at least 400 names out of more than 3,000 available in the city. A huge array of work that takes time. Of course, if we expect to get a quality product, not renaming for the sake of renaming, “Zhukov wrote.
Published by Zhukov “Concept of formation of toponymic space of the Ukrainian city” , according to him, is based on current legislation and achievements of toponymic science and should help in preparing proposals.
How to change street names – recommendations
І. General principles and rules of urbanonymy nomination:
- naming and renaming of urbanonyms should contribute to the restoration of the historically formed toponymy of the city, preservation and reproduction of its historical and cultural environment;
- priority among other proposals are historical or long-term names of urbanonyms;
- the name given to the object must reflect the most characteristic features of the object, take into account the geographical, historical, natural and other conditions of the area in which it is located;
- the name should harmoniously fit into the existing toponymic ensembles and not violate their integrity;
- in the names of urban All milestones of the historical past of the city and Ukraine should be reflected in a balanced way;
- , Constitution, Conciliarity, etc.);
- urbanonyms must perform their main function – to be landmarks in space, so it is not allowed:
- use of the same names within one locality;
- nomination of urbanonyms with the same name in different parts of the city, even with changes in the type of urbanonym (square, street, lane, avenue, descent, boulevard, entrance, driveway, embankment);
- it is not allowed to change the name of the urban name;
- it is desirable to avoid nominations of urban names with prefixes Novo-, Malo-, Staro-, etc .;
- title should consist of a minimum number of words (preferably no more than three words), be melodious, easy to pronounce, avoid provoking ambiguous or funny associations;
- together with the proposal of nomination/renaming of the urbanonym the corresponding historical reference must be submitted;
- names used in Soviet propaganda of the theory of class struggle are not allowed;
- it is not allowed to restore historical and nominate new names that are elements of the Russian imperial historical myth, such as the names of representatives of the ruling dynasty, statesmen, military, cultural figures, symbolic names, etc.
ІІ. Use of anthroponyms:
- perpetuation of a person's name is possible only after his death;
- priority is given to the nomination of an urbanonym by the name of a person whose life and/or activities are related to this urbanonym;
- names of persons are assigned in order to perpetuate the memory of them for their personal contribution to the struggle for independence, building the Ukrainian state, maintaining international peace and security, strengthening Ukraine's international prestige;
- immortalize the names of persons who committed a heroic deed, including in the recent history of Ukraine (participants of the Russian-Ukrainian war, heroes of the Euromaidan, etc.);
- the names of persons who have made a significant personal contribution to the development of science, education, culture and other spheres of public life are perpetuated;
- landscaping and location urbanonym should correspond to the scale of activity of the person whose name is assigned to the urbanonym;
- it is not allowed to preserve and spread in the toponymic space the names of persons involved in political terror, terrorism and illegal activities, etc., figures, including in the field of culture associated with the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, as well as names to be changed in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Condemnation of Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes in Ukraine and Prohibition of Propaganda of Their Symbols.”/span>
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ІІІ . Naming historical events should help:
- popularization of outstanding facts of the history of Ukraine, reflecting the achievements and achievements in the name of Ukraine;
- formation of the historical consciousness of the Ukrainian people;
- preservation of the historical memory of the Ukrainian people;
- development of science, literature, architecture, art and other spheres of public life.
“strong style =” font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; “> IV. Use of geographical names. The urban map of cities should preferably show:
- names of all regional centers of Ukraine;
- names of district centers of a certain region;
- preferably has display the names of settlements of other countries – twin cities, European and world capitals, etc., except for geographical names associated with the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.
V. Use of neutral and “positive” names:
- to form a comfortable toponymic environment of dormitories and low-rise areas, it is desirable to use neutral names and names that have a positive connotation in their semantics.
