UDC

81'373.21:94(460)

DOI

10.37482/2687-1505-V155

Authors

Elena G. Balan
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia; ul. Miklukho-Maklaya 10, korp. 2, Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0488-4686 e-mail: balan_el@mail.ru

Abstract

The paper studies urban place names of the era of the Spanish Civil War (from 1936 to 1939) and the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (from 1939 to 1975) in the context of the historical memory in contemporary Spain. The material included academic articles on historical memory, publications in the mass media, pieces of legislation, and data from the National Statistics Institute (Spain). Turning to toponyms allows us to provide insights into the problem of historical memory in Spain after the end of the dictatorship in 1975. The 1977 Amnesty Law (Ley de Amnistía de 1977) stipulated the oblivion of the events of the Franco period so as not to provoke conflict in society. In the late 20th century, the history of the Civil War and Francoist dictatorship needed to be re-examined. The research demonstrates that the current legal framework for memory in Spain is based on the Historical Memory Law (Ley de memoria histórica), adopted in 2007. The paper found that the number of urban toponyms containing symbols of the period under study, such as the names of participants in and events of the Civil War and Francoist dictatorship, has decreased significantly in recent years. However, changes in Francoist toponyms are inevitably accompanied by discussions and polemics at the level of local legislatures as well as public commemorative organizations, which are often covered in the media. Thus, the process of renaming continues to be a topical problem for Spain.

For citation: Balan E.G. Key Trends in the Memorial Urban Toponymy of Francoist Spain in the 20th – 21st Centuries. Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki, 2022, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 61–72. DOI: 10.37482/2687-1505-V155

Keywords

Spain’s toponyms, urban toponyms, memorial toponymy, historical memory, Franco’s dictatorship, toponym renaming

References

1. Podol’skaya N.V. Slovar’ russkoy onomasticheskoy terminologii [Dictionary of Russian Onomastic Terms]. Moscow, 1988. 187 p.
2. Shcherbak A.S. Universal’noe svoystvo urbanonimicheskoy kategorii [Universal Property of Urbanonymical Categorization]. Neofilologiya, 2018, vol. 4, no. 13, pp. 5–11.
3. Golomidova M.V. Toponimicheskaya politika v sfere nominatsii vnutrigorodskikh ob”ektov: teoreticheskie i prikladnye problemy [Toponymic Policy in Naming City Facilities: Theoretical and Applied Issues]. Voprosy onomastiki, 2018, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 36–61.
4. Razumov R.V. Memorativy pisatelyam, poetam i literaturnym kritikam v sistemakh urbanonimov Rossiyskoy Federatsii [Personal Memoratives to Writers, Poets and Literary Critics in Urbanonymic Systems of the Russian Federation]. Vestnik Kostromskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2017, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 155–159.
5. Halbwachs M. Les Cadres sociaux de la mémoire. Paris, 1994. 367 p. (in Russ.: Khal’bvaks M. Sotsial’nye ramki pamyati. Moscow, 2007. 348 p.).
6. Nora P. Problematika mest pamyati [Sites of Memory]. Nora P., Ozouf M., de Puymège G., Winock M. Frantsiya-pamyat’ [Realms of Memory]. St. Petersburg, 1999, pp. 17–50.
7. Assmann A. Der lange Schatten der Vergangenheit: Erinnerungskultur und Geschichtspolitik. Munich, 2006. 320 p. (Russ. ed.: Assman A. Dlinnaya ten’ proshlogo: Memorial’naya kul’tura i istoricheskaya politika. Moscow, 2014. 328 p.).
8. Semprún J. Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez. Barcelona, 1977. 342 p.
9. Schacter D.L. The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. Boston, 2001. 288 p.
10. Assmann A. Zabvenie istorii – oderzhimost’ istoriey [History Oblivion – History Obsession]. Moscow, 2019. 552 p.
11. Connerton P. Seven Types of Forgetting. Mem. Stud., 2008, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 59–71. DOI: 10.1177/1750698007083889
12. Ramblado-Minero M.C. Sites of Memory / Sites of Oblivion in Contemporary Spain. Rev. Can. Estud. Hisp., 2011, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 29–42.
13. Gak V.G. Yazykovye preobrazovaniya [Language Transformations]. Moscow, 1998. 763 p.
14. Dem’yanov K.V., Ryzhenko V.G. Ideologiya, toponimika, politika pamyati: o massovom pereimenovanii gorodov v SSSR [Ideology,  Toponymy, Policy of Memory: About City’s Renaming in the USSR]. Vestnik Omskogo universiteta. Ser.: Istoricheskie nauki, 2017, no. 4, pp. 153–160.
15. Rodríguez Jiménez J.L. Ni División Azul, ni División Española de Voluntarios: El personal forzado en el cuerpo expedicionario enviado por Franco a la URSS. Cuad. Hist. Contemp., 2009, vol. 31, pp. 265-296.
16. Yusta M. La “recuperación de la memoria histórica”: ¿Una reescritura de la historia en el espacio público? (1995–2005). Rev. Historiogr., 2008, vol. 2, no. 9, pp. 105–111.
17. Boyd C.P. The Politics of History and Memory in Democratic Spain. Ann. Am. Acad. Political Soc. Sci., 2008, vol. 617, no. 1, pp. 133–148. DOI: 10.1177/0002716207312760
18. González García José M. Spanish Literature and the Recovery of Historical Memory. Eur. Rev., 2009, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 177–185. DOI: 10.1017/S1062798709000647
19. Messenger D.A. Contemporary Memory Politics in Catalonia: Europeanizing and Mobilizing the History of the Spanish Civil War. Kraenzle C., Mayr M. (eds.). The Changing Place of Europe in Global Memory Cultures: Usable Pasts and Futures. Cham, 2017, pp. 49–62.
20. Ley de memoria histórica española. Ley 52/2007, 26.12. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/bal4j (accessed: 29 April 2021).
21. Orden de 6/11/2008. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/WRGEB (accessed: 16 April 2021).
22. Orden de 19/2/2009. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/bv46e (accessed: 16 April 2021).
23. Ayutamiento de Hervias (La Rioja). Denominación de las calles. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/qmQnk (accessed: 20 April 2021).
24. A Coruña renombrará otras ocho calles entre esta semana y el mes de abril. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/WEV5n (accessed: 23 April 2021).
25. Ayutamiento de Jaén. Listado de cambio de nombre de calles de la ciudad de Jaén. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/bn7N4 (accessed: 21 April 2021).
26. El Ayuntamiento de Lugo infringe la ley de Memoria Histórica. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/WNG7n (accessed: 21 April 2021).
27. Santander quiere cambiar el nombre de 24 calles franquistas. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/bkxAo (accessed: 21 April 2021).
28. Madrid cambiará antes del verano el nombre de 30 calles franquistas. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/r3k1z (accessed: 23 April 2021).
29. Madrid cambia el nombre a 30 calles franquistas. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/O1B6V (accessed: 23 April 2021).
30. Madrid propone cambiar el nombre de 47 calles para retirar referencias franquistas. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/qO47p (accessed: 23 April 2021).
31. El Comisionado propone cambiar el nombre de 47 calles y dedicar uno al 11-M. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/XOLJa (accessed: 23 April 2021).
32. El Comisionado de Memoria Histórica declara que el cambio de nombre de 52 calles franquistas en Madrid procede por ser una “exaltación” de la Guerra Civil. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/rLG3w (accessed: 28 April 2021).
33. El Ayuntamiento de Madrid comienza a cambiar las placas de las calles franquistas. Available at: https://www.elmundo.es/madrid/2018/04/26/5ae1bd7222601dde1e8b/5b1.html (accessed: 28 April 2021).
34. Número de calles dedicadas a Franco en España. Available at: https://www.epdata.es/datos/numero-calles-dedicadasfranco-espana/505 (accessed: 6 May 2021).
35. Insumisos de la Memoria Histórica: las 94 calles donde Franco todavía sigue presente. Available at: https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2020-02-29/calles-franco-jose-despieceantonio-ley-memoria-hist... (accessed: 28 April 2021).
36. Madurez democrática. La ley de memoria promueve positivas mejoras en la relación con el pasado. Available at: https://inlnk.ru/ZZ80Y (accessed: 26 July 2021).