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Dmitry Vladimirovich Spiridonov
Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia
TOPONYMIC DESIGN IN A POSTCOLONIAL SETTING
Review of the book: Carter, P. Naming No Man’s Land. Postcolonial Toponymies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillian, 2024. xix + 251 p.
For citation
Spiridonov, D. V. (2026). Toponymic Design in a Postcolonial Setting [Review of the book: Carter, P. Naming No Man’s Land. Postcolonial Toponymies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillian, 2024. xix + 251 p.]. Voprosy onomastiki, 23(2), 253–264. https://doi.org/10.15826/vopr_onom.2026.23.2.030
Received on 27 August 2025
Accepted on 21 November 2025
Abstract: The reviewed book by Paul Carter, a renowned specialist in Australian cultural geography, addresses an intriguing applied problem: the creation of names for new geographical features in the Perth metropolitan area in the Noongar language, the language of the largest Indigenous group that once inhabited south-western Australia. Toponymic projects of this kind are common in many countries pursuing postcolonial cultural policies; however, researchers in different regions often adopt different principles of toponymic design. Taking into account the specific features of Noongar culture, Carter and his colleagues rejected an archival approach based on the search for documented place names that could be reused for naming new features. Instead, they opted to create elements of the toponymic landscape from scratch, including the development of geographical terms for features that have no established names in the Noongar language. The book’s main contribution, and arguably its most compelling aspect, lies not in the description of the completed projects themselves but in the theoretical and methodological foundations of the chosen strategy. Carter convincingly demonstrates the fundamental differences between European and Indigenous conceptions of space and place naming; describes the methodology of working with Noongar communities, which both revealed these differences and led to the formulation of specific names; and uses these findings as a starting point for a thought-provoking discussion of the nature and limitations of what is called “toponymic decolonisation”. Despite its demanding style and somewhat opaque structure, the book contains a wealth of insightful observations that encourage readers to reconsider the nature of place naming in non-European cultures.
Keywords: Australian toponymy; toponymic design; Australian Indigenous languages; Noongar (Nyungar) language; Perth; postcolonial toponymic policy; ethnography of place-naming
References
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