CONTEMPORARY TOPONYMY AS CULTURAL MEMORY

Abstract

This article advances a philosophical interpretation of cultural memory through a set of toponymic case studies from the Akmola region. Over a prolonged historical period, Akmola underwent intensive economic and administrative reconfiguration, colonial resettlement processes in the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, collectivization in the 1930s, and the establishment of numerous sites associated with the GULAG system in the mid-twentieth century. The region also became a major territory of the Virgin Lands campaign in the second half of the twentieth century. In addition, the relocation of Kazakhstan’s capital at the end of the twentieth century significantly reshaped the region’s onomastic landscape.

The article examines how each of these historical stages has been inscribed in the region’s onomastic map. The selected cases are analyzed in the context of collective cultural memory and national identity, through the interpretive logic of administrative-territorial units and their connections to broader cultural landscapes. Particular attention is given to the ways in which elements of cultural memory mark territories and contribute to the revitalization of historical continuity. The study also highlights the interrelation between contemporary onomastic processes, state interests, and the reconfiguration of cultural-landscape logics. The conclusion underscores the philosophical and cultural significance of onomastic policy for shaping national self-awareness and for restoring historical justice.