Emotional geopolitics of toponymic (de)commemoration: the case of Belarus-related street names in Ukraine

Abstract

Drawing on works in emotional geopolitics and critical toponymy, this paper explores the contested spatial politics of emotionally and geopolitically motivated processes of toponymic de-commemoration and commemoration, using examples from Belarus-related street names in Ukraine. The study relied on a diverse set of materials, including archival records, municipal council decisions, and reports from online media outlets, through the lens of an indicative survey of university students in Kyiv university as well as analysis of the toponymic semantics (meaning), public feedback, and spatial distribution of Belarus-related street names from 1991 to 2025 with an emphasis on the period of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022 – 2025. The paper brings to light that such street names serve as emotional, symbolic, and place-embedded geopolitical signals that reflect society's emotional and moral judgments rather than systematic governmental memory politics. The study reveals that Ukrainians’ attitudes toward the ‘Belarusian’ street names are influenced by their perceptions of Belarus as a state and the Belarusian people, reflecting an emotional, impulsive, and often exaggerated personal reaction to the contemporary and historical context of Ukrainian-Belarusian relations. This paper contributes to the ongoing disciplinary debates regarding the forms of emotional geopolitics and the emotional aspects of political toponyms.