Political language in street names? The case of Warsaw

Abstract

Streets had names as early as ancient Rome. These city roads “spoke” and conveyed significant meaning. Such was the via Sacra – “sacred road”. From the Middle Ages to the 18^th century, streets bore topographic names derived from the professions of the townspeople or from the names of saints. The first “symbolic” names appeared in Warsaw at the beginning of the 19^th century. These were “commemorative” names with quasi-political content (e.g. Napoleon Street). Since the mid-19^th century, the Russian occupier imposed hostile meanings on numerous Warsaw street names: the names of representatives of the tsarist authorities and the names of Russian cities. It can be assumed that these nomina propria carried the language of politics. After 1918, the Polish authorities of the capital wanted to erase the visible traces of Russian rule. This also applied to the names of streets and squares. The renamings were to symbolically document and manifest the regained independence. More and more “commemorative” names were created, reflecting the political thought of the reborn Republic. Streets with names imposed by the occupiers received new names (e.g. Petersburska became Jagiellońska). During the years of German occupation, some streets were given new names – some neutral (e.g. Parkstr. – Fredry), others imposed the language of Nazi propaganda on Varsovians. Names such as Adolf-Hitler-Platz, Siegesstraße and Victoria-Str. sounded particularly drastic to Varsovians. After the Second World War, the totalitarian authorities combined commemoration with political and ideological opportunism. Since the second half of the 20^th century, the names of many streets have been changed. The street names simply “shouted” heroes of the communist movement. It can certainly be assumed that there was a coded language of politics in them. After 1989, street names began to be changed. They replaced imposed honorees with their own heroes, i.e. figures marginalized by the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic. This was a certain analogy to the situation after regaining independence in 1918. At that time, traces of Russification were removed, and from 1989 – “souvenirs” of the inglorious past of the Polish People’s Republic. So the earlier names were restored, e.g. Chmielna instead of Rutkowskiego, plac Bankowy instead of plac Dzierżyńskiego, plac Zwycięstwa became plac Piłsudskiego again, and General Władysław Anders replaced the infamous Marceli Nowotko, aleja Rewolucji Październikowej became aleja Prymasa Tysiąclecia. The language of politics was most present in Warsaw’s toponymy in the long period of the Polish People’s Republic, especially in the 1950s. It was then that the newly granted nomina propria were saturated with political meaning – they informed, educated “unaware” citizens, forced them to learn the content imposed by the authorities.