| Popis: |
This chapter needs very tight limits in terms of its scope, both temporally and spatially, since multiculturalism lies at the heart of Russian toponymy both diachronically and geographically; we are therefore here discussing only the European part of Russia from the eleventh century to the twenty-first. Cross-cultural influences in toponymy are continually evidenced here: firstly, due to early contacts of incoming Slavs with the local Finno-Ugric peoples; secondly, due to active trade on long and major routes (the Viking or Varangian route from the North to Constantinople; those from Western Europe to Central Asia); thirdly, due to almost continuous invasions from both the East and the South (early Turkic nomads, Mongols and Tatars) and the West (Germans, Poles and Lithuanians, Swedes and the French). Add to all these the meeting of religions (Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, paganism, Islam and Judaism), of ideologies (communism and capitalism) and of social diversity among name-givers (nobility, peasants, town-dwellers, the state) — and it makes the subject too complex for a chapter. However, this research sets a modest aim of outlining the main cultural ‘threads’ in this multi-coloured place-name ‘tapestry’ and showcasing their evidence, and thus spelling out a programme for further directions in multicultural research. |
