Description:
This paper identifies the historical-cultural processes represented by the published etymologies of the town names of the Murray River. In particular, it will focus on Victorian and Australian toponymic reference books, and the effects they have had on the representations of local Murray River town histories. There will also be some discussion on how, instead of being limited to mere reference material for tourists, toponymic books have been used by local historians as sources for determining the history of their place names. Moreover, consideration will be given to specific cases where spurious etymologies published in toponymic books in the early part of the twentieth century, have been republished in later toponymic reference books, and eventually adopted as part of local town histories. This process will be discussed in line with Geoffrey Blainey’s critique of ‘scissors and paste in local history’.
Description:
This paper identifies the historical-cultural processes represented by the published etymologies of the town names of the Murray River. In particular, it will focus on Victorian and Australian toponymic reference books, and the effects they have had on the representations of local Murray River town histories. There will also be some discussion on how, instead of being limited to mere reference material for tourists, toponymic books have been used by local historians as sources for determining the history of their place names. Moreover, consideration will be given to specific cases where spurious etymologies published in toponymic books in the early part of the twentieth century, have been republished in later toponymic reference books, and eventually adopted as part of local town histories. This process will be discussed in line with Geoffrey Blainey’s critique of ‘scissors and paste in local history’.
Description:
Since the time of European exploration of Australia, the topography of the continent has been mapped from a colonial cartographic perspective. Colonial government guidelines have ‘controlled’ the knowledge base of understanding of the landscape for non-indigenous Australians. This perspective has lead to a colonial-tainted sense of place for non-Indigenous (and some Indigenous) Australians. Such euro-centric focused governance and management of the development of our understanding of the landscape was strongly exemplified during a recent six-month review of State forest names in Victoria. By the beginning of 2004 over 90 percent of State forests in Victoria did not have officially registered names in the Australian Gazetteer. Thus, the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment employed the researchers to undertake a pilot study program, investigating different methods for officially naming the State forests in the Midlands Region of Victoria. This pilot study program focussed on producing a best practice model for naming State forest areas, which would then be utilised for all State forests across Victoria. It was understood by the researchers that placenames were markers of national, regional, local and personal identity, and as such, part of the State forest review concentrated on recognising all the various historical and contemporary identities apparent in the Midlands region. This attempt to recognise historical and contemporary associations with the State forest areas proved to be a challenge to the researchers. Difficulties arose in multiple areas of the review process. In the first instance, there was difficulty in applying the vague government guidelines on dual-naming, to a practical and tangible situation. In addition, an interesting challenge faced the researchers in trying to recognise Indigenous heritage, within a colonial geographical framework. Indigenous landscape boundaries did not align with the State forest areas designated on official government maps, and in some instances State forest areas contained three Indigenous language borders. Similarly, there were difficulties in engaging the Indigenous communities into the review process. Fluency in some local Indigenous languages had been lost. Some Indigenous groups were involved in inter-factional disagreements. One Indigenous group did not want to have their heritage ‘controlled’ by government naming guidelines. In addition, the local non-indigenous community also proved difficult on occasion, especially in relation to the proposal of dual-naming State forest areas. The notion of native-title claims, and a deficiency of general community understanding in relation to indigenous sense of place was all pervasive, and caused a great deal of resistance to be built against the recognition of Indigenous heritage in the State forest areas. The paper will explore the issues that arise in conducting research that requires an incorporation of more than one dominant cultural ideology. Moreover, strategies utilised in working through these issues, to ensure inclusivity of all identified parties, will be discussed.
'What's in a name?' : place and toponymic attachment, identity and dependence : a case study of the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park name restoration process
Description:
The ultimate intention of this thesis is to propose the meta-theory of toponymic attachment, which is comprised of toponymic identity and dependence, and to explore ways in which it is related to , but distinct from, existing widely-published theories on place attachment.
Description:
The ultimate intention of this thesis is to propose the meta-theory of toponymic attachment, which is comprised of toponymic identity and dependence, and to explore ways in which it is related to , but distinct from, existing widely-published theories on place attachment.
Description:
This book showcases current research into Indigenous and minority placenames in Australia and internationally. Many of the chapters in this volume originated as papers at a Trends in Toponymy conference hosted by the University of Ballarat in 2007 that featured Australian and international speakers. The chapters in this volume provide insight into the quality of toponymic research that is being undertaken in Australia and in countries such as Canada, Finland, South Africa, New Zealand, and Norway. The research presented here draws on the disciplines of linguistics, geography, history, and anthropology. This book includes meticulous studies of placenames in central NSW and the Upper Hunter region; Gundungurra cave names; western Arnhem Land; Northern Cape York Peninsula and Mount Wheeler in Queensland; saltwater placenames around Mer in the Torres Strait; and the Kaurna in South Australia.
Description:
Of central import to this study is the rarely cited notion that 'it is not spaces which ground identifications, but places. How then does space become place? By being named' (Carter, Donald and Squires 1993: xii). Carter and others are among the few who have overtly linked the process of naming to the creation of places from space and their theoretical cohort include Claude Levi-Strauss (1962) who noted that place is named space, and Tim Cresswell (2004: 10) who asserted that 'when humans invest meaning in a portion of space and then become attached to it in some way (naming is one such way) it becomes place'. This concept of place positioning human landscape interactions is of integral importance to this research in that it is thought to be toponyms which symbolise this interaction and identification. This paper contributes to the developing field of cultural toponymy by examining whether the social and cultural role of toponyms can be partly defined through a theory on toponymic identity. Essentially, this paper asks 'can toponyms contribute to a social, cultural and historical identity formation or recognition in similar, yet distinguishable, ways to places?'.
Description:
This book is the third volume in a series dedicated to Australian placenames. The earlier volumes are Koch and Hercus (eds) 2009, 'Aboriginal Placenames : Naming and re-naming the Australian landscape' (The Australian National University EPress and Aboriginal History), and Hercus, Hodges and Simpson (eds) 2002, 'The land is a map : Placenames of Indigenous Origin in Australia' (Pandanus Books and Pacific Linguistics, Canberra). As in the earlier volumes, many of the papers in this volume originated as papers at a placenames conference, in this cas one hosted by the University of Ballarat in 2007 that featured Australian and international speakers who spoke on aspects of Indigenous and minority toponyms. Added to these papers are three papers that are recipients of the Murray Chapman Award: Nash (Chapter 2) and Wafer (Chapter 4) won the award in 2011, and Nash (Chapter 3) in 2012. This award is sponsored by the Geographical Names Board of NSW. The papers have been arranged geographically, starting with New South Wales and ending with four international papers presented at the Ballarat conference.