The thematization of proper names in travel literature: Czech travelogues of visits to the USSR
The thematization of proper names in travel literature: Czech travelogues of visits to the USSR

Summary/Abstract: The article explores the thematization of proper names (anthroponyms, chrematonyms and toponyms, includings street names) in Czech travelogues describing Soviet Russia (and later the Soviet Union). The material for the study comprised 40 travelogues published in book form and relating to the period 1917–1956. The aim of the article is to demonstrate how proper names function in this type of travelogue as a means of reflecting and promoting Soviet society, its values and ideology. The article also explores how proper names – particularly name changes in response to historical developments – were presented and commented on by the authors of pre- and post- World War II travelogues. Predominantly up to 1945, naming practices under the Bolshevik regime (name changes, new personal and geographical names, the practice of giving ‘revolutionary’ names to children) were viewed as part of the creation of a new Soviet reality and a new society, and the authors emphasized the ideological value and propaganda function of proper names.

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