“We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, Zimbabwe

This article examines the layered co-existence and simultaneous use of a complex range of toponyms in the town of Bindura in Zimbabwe. It proposes that the concurrent use of different names for the same place indicates the ongoing negotiation, contestation and articulation of diverse identities in B...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dorcas Zuvalinyenga
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Pôle de Recherche pour l'Organisation et la diffusion de l'Information Géographique 2020-12-01
Series:EchoGéo
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/echogeo/20057
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832579096876417024
author Dorcas Zuvalinyenga
author_facet Dorcas Zuvalinyenga
author_sort Dorcas Zuvalinyenga
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the layered co-existence and simultaneous use of a complex range of toponyms in the town of Bindura in Zimbabwe. It proposes that the concurrent use of different names for the same place indicates the ongoing negotiation, contestation and articulation of diverse identities in Bindura on the basis of history, age, class, race, gender, ideology, language, culture, communication, and power. The implications of plural toponymies on members of the selected community and their relationship to a place are explored in as far as the toponymies and toponymic inscriptions may be said to reveal the operation of various discourses, identities and social representations that are traced from precolonial times to the present. The article follows Tucci, Ronza and Giordano’s study of what they call the “layering (of) the toponymic tapestry” whereby toponyms can be a reflection of a place’s long and contested social and political history. Fragments of different toponymic regimes and hegemonic discourses that took over one after the other over time remain inscribed in these place names, thus originating “a complex tapestry” in which different pasts, histories and present day experiences revive and conflicting ideologies and identities co-exist. In essence, names and naming practices of a place gives us windows into the events or behaviours of a particular place and its inhabitants.
format Article
id doaj-art-a3d08783f6b9447cba3a2c94c60005c3
institution Kabale University
issn 1963-1197
language fra
publishDate 2020-12-01
publisher Pôle de Recherche pour l'Organisation et la diffusion de l'Information Géographique
record_format Article
series EchoGéo
spelling doaj-art-a3d08783f6b9447cba3a2c94c60005c32025-01-30T12:43:43ZfraPôle de Recherche pour l'Organisation et la diffusion de l'Information GéographiqueEchoGéo1963-11972020-12-015310.4000/echogeo.20057“We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, ZimbabweDorcas ZuvalinyengaThis article examines the layered co-existence and simultaneous use of a complex range of toponyms in the town of Bindura in Zimbabwe. It proposes that the concurrent use of different names for the same place indicates the ongoing negotiation, contestation and articulation of diverse identities in Bindura on the basis of history, age, class, race, gender, ideology, language, culture, communication, and power. The implications of plural toponymies on members of the selected community and their relationship to a place are explored in as far as the toponymies and toponymic inscriptions may be said to reveal the operation of various discourses, identities and social representations that are traced from precolonial times to the present. The article follows Tucci, Ronza and Giordano’s study of what they call the “layering (of) the toponymic tapestry” whereby toponyms can be a reflection of a place’s long and contested social and political history. Fragments of different toponymic regimes and hegemonic discourses that took over one after the other over time remain inscribed in these place names, thus originating “a complex tapestry” in which different pasts, histories and present day experiences revive and conflicting ideologies and identities co-exist. In essence, names and naming practices of a place gives us windows into the events or behaviours of a particular place and its inhabitants.https://journals.openedition.org/echogeo/20057identitypowerplural toponymiescritical toponymydiscoursecommunication
spellingShingle Dorcas Zuvalinyenga
“We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, Zimbabwe
EchoGéo
identity
power
plural toponymies
critical toponymy
discourse
communication
title “We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, Zimbabwe
title_full “We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, Zimbabwe
title_fullStr “We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed “We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, Zimbabwe
title_short “We shall know a place by its names”: Co-existing place names in Bindura, Zimbabwe
title_sort we shall know a place by its names co existing place names in bindura zimbabwe
topic identity
power
plural toponymies
critical toponymy
discourse
communication
url https://journals.openedition.org/echogeo/20057
work_keys_str_mv AT dorcaszuvalinyenga weshallknowaplacebyitsnamescoexistingplacenamesinbindurazimbabwe