Authors

Discussion

Cities are spaces of interaction among multiple cultures, languages, and identities (Goffman 1963; Lefebvre 1991), where street names guide spatial orientation and shape collective memory and social belonging. Within this framework, the linguistic landscape is a key tool for analysing how languages, names, and symbols in public spaces — including street names — reflect social relations, cultural values, and the ways societies remember their past (Landry & Bourhis 1997; Al-Athwary 2012; Cenoz & Gorter 2006; Hassen 2016). Particular attention is given to сommemorative street names in post-colonial countries, as they serve as symbolic spaces expressing national remembrance and struggles for recognition and gender equality. In this study, the focus is on streets named after women in Kyiv— a city that functioned as the capital of the Ukrainian SSR during the Soviet era and, since 1991, has served as the capital of independent Ukraine.

In post-Soviet countries, decommunization and the reassessment of the Soviet and Russian legacy have reshaped urban spaces, and Kyiv exemplifies these changes. During the Soviet period, female figures commemorated in street names were mostly revolutionaries, Communist Party activists, WWII heroines, and select scientists or artists, reflecting state-prescribed ideals of women’s roles. Despite this, women remained underrepresented, demonstrating the marginality of female visibility in public space. Since Ukraine’s independence, street renaming — from early episodic changes to the mass decommunization of 2015–2016 and post-2022 removal of Russian heritage — has honoured Ukrainian writers, cultural figures, scientists, and activists, reflecting shifts in memory and efforts to build a more inclusive symbolic landscape.

This study combines four approaches: (1) linguistic landscape analysis  — mapping the visibility and symbolic meaning of street names, comparing female and male urbanonyms; (2) gender analysis — examining which social roles and spheres of activity are represented or marginalised; (3) postcolonial perspective — exploring symbolic cleansing and the rejection of Soviet/Russian heritage in the Ukrainian urban space; (4) experimental research — surveying participants to assess perceptions of prestige, significance, and associations of women’s street names and comparing these perceptions with their spatial distribution.

Expected findings include persistent gender imbalance, concentration of women’s names in “safe” cultural and educational spheres, and divergence between symbolic presence and public perception. Comparative analysis with other European and post-Soviet cities will situate Kyiv within broader trends and highlight unique aspects of the Ukrainian post-Soviet urban context.

Keywords: urban toponymy; linguistic landscape; gender; post-Soviet studies; decommunization;