Naming spaces

Abstract

This article examines the politics of naming geographic spaces, concentrating on East Asia, especially on what has been happening in Japanese and Chinese language areas. The plot of the narrative is gradual crumbling of the European oecumene, established during the colonial centuries, when maps became dotted with European names, or names that reflected European naming practices. Since 1945 there has appeared a countervailing tendency of renaming countries, small disputed territories, and vast regions, such as Asia, in local languages, following local naming practices.