To forget Friedrich Engels:Memory and oblivion in oikonymy

Abstract

The paper is based on material from the town of Engels (Saratov Region) and discusses the socio-cultural background that has determined the use of the pre-1931 oikonym Pokrovsk, on the one hand, and the double nomination Pokrovsk-Engels (Engels-Pokrovsk), on the other. The author analyzes reflection by the community about the semantics of these names. The period associated with the name Engels is filled with significant events and symbols to a greater degree than the period before 1931. Pokrovsk is associated with pre-Soviet “prehistory”. Since the town was initially named after the Orthodox feast of Intercession (Pokrov) of the Theotokos, its religious connotations were in demand at the end οf the 1980s and the 1990s. These connotations, on the one hand, actualize celebration of the mentioned feast as the “name day of the city”, and on the other hand, inspire discussions about the sacral protection, or pokrov (in Russian), over the town, whether or not it has been lost as a result of renaming in 1931. The rejection of Communist ideology favors the oblivion of F. Engels, commemorated in the actual oikonym. This is expressed, in the desemantization of the oikonym (as a play on words), its reinterpretation as a literal translation of German Engels ‘angels’, which also has religious connotations. The discussions and practices (both actional and linguistic) remove the need to return the name Pokrovsk, and thus compensate for the refusal to rename the town in the 1990s.