Episode 33: What’s in a Name? Renaming places as a Strategic Gambit
People, Places, Power por Nick Cull & Simon Anholt
Notas del episodio
Inspired by media reports of the Turkish government attempting to assert the Turkish spelling of their name, this episode considers strategies of naming/renaming/spelling. Turkey’s move is discussed in the context of its history. Simon suggests four categories of renaming: the post-colonial shift to a more authentic local name as with Swaziland/Eswatini or Madras/Chennai; the attempt to be more memorable because one’s name is insufficiently distinct as when Slovenia considered Alpe-Adria; the power-play as when a regime rebrands key places (as with Astana/Nursultan) and the names of historical revival such as Israel. Nick argues that part of Czecholosvakia’s problem in the mid-20th century was the lack of resonance around its name. Simon notices that some languages have changed names while others keep older names longer. Italians still call Beiji ...