EXAMINING THE HISTORY OF LOCAL AND NATION-STATE IDENTITY IN THE LIGHT OF THE STREET NAMES OF DOWNTOWN PÉCS

Abstract

The present case study examines the street names in the city centre of Pécs from the building of the nation-state (1864 street naming) to the 1991 street naming of the regime change. The basic aim of the study is to explore how the symbolic domination of urban space changed between the nation-state and localism during this historical period. For the analysis of street names, I have formed categories along the geographically motivated/unmotivated concepts established in the study of geographical names, and along the notions of the local and the nation-state from the perspective of memory politics. The conclusion of the study is – in line with the literature on toponymy- that local names have been significantly marginalised since the 19th century and nation-state names have come to the fore. Throughout the 20th century, the proportion of nation-state names has steadily increased, with a peak under the Kádár regime. After the change of regime, there was a marked decline and a strengthening of the symbolic power of localism, but this did not reach the level of the pre-communist dictatorship. I have compared this with some of the discourse on locality and argued that, although there has been an increased demand for a restoration of the symbolic representation of locality after the regime change, this can only be partial in the light of the historical cultural changes that have already taken place.