Department of Sociology and Social Work, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania.
PLoS One. 2021 May 13;16(5):e0251558. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251558. eCollection 2021.
Recent scholarship in critical toponymy studies has refashioned the understanding of street names from innocent labels to nominal loci of historical memory and vectors of collective identity that are embroiled with power relations. Urban nomenclatures consist of more than mere linguistic signposts deployed onto space to facilitate navigation. Street names are also powerful signposts that indicate the political regime and its socio-cultural values. Drawing on these theoretical insights, this paper is focused on Sibiu (Romania) and explore the city's shifting namescape in a longitudinal perspective spanning one century and a half of modern history (1875-2020). The analysis is based on a complete dataset of street names and street name changes registered across five political regimes (Habsburg Empire, Kingdom of Romania, Romanian People's Republic, Socialist Republic of Romania, and post-socialist Romania). A series of multiple logistic regression models were carried out to determine the factors that influence toponymic change. The statistical results point out several significant predictors of street renaming: (1) the streets' toponymic characteristics (politicized or neutral name); (2) artery rank (public squares and large avenues or ordinary streets and alleys); and (3) topographic features (a street's size and centrality). Such a quantitative approach coupled with a longitudinal perspective contributes to the scholarly literature on place-naming practices in three major ways: firstly, by advancing an innovative methodological framework and analytical model for the study of street name changes; secondly, by delineating with statistical precision the factors that model toponymic change; and thirdly, by embedding these renaming practices observed especially after significant power shifts in the broader historical context of the changes brought in the city's street nomenclature.
近年来，批判地名学研究领域的学者对街名的理解进行了重塑，认为街名不仅仅是标识空间位置、方便人们出行的语言符号，还是承载历史记忆和集体认同的象征性场所，同时也与权力关系交织在一起。城市地名学不仅仅是在空间中部署语言指示牌来方便导航。街名也是强有力的指示牌，表明了政治制度及其社会文化价值观。本文借鉴了这些理论观点，以罗马尼亚锡比乌市（Sibiu）为例，从历时的角度（1875 年至 2020 年，跨越了一个半世纪的现代历史）探讨了该市街名景观的变化。分析基于跨越五个政治制度（哈布斯堡王朝、罗马尼亚王国、罗马尼亚人民共和国、罗马尼亚社会主义共和国和后社会主义罗马尼亚）的完整街名和街名变更数据集。进行了一系列多项逻辑回归模型，以确定影响地名变更的因素。统计结果指出了街名变更的几个重要预测因素：（1）街名的地名特征（政治化或中性名称）；（2）动脉等级（公共广场和大街道或普通街道和小巷）；（3）地形特征（街道的大小和中心位置）。这种定量方法与历时视角相结合，主要从三个方面为地名命名实践的学术研究做出了贡献：首先，通过提出一个创新的方法论框架和分析模型来研究街名变更；其次，通过统计精度描绘出了模型化地名变更的因素；最后，将这些在城市街名命名中观察到的更名实践，尤其是在权力发生重大转移后，嵌入到更广泛的历史背景中。
