Printed Book
Kolonial og postkolonial brug af danske stednavne i Grønland. Med et komparativt udsyn til stednavnepraksis i de øvrige dansk-norske kolonier: English: Colonial and postcolonial use of Danish place-names in Greenland: With comparative views to place-name practice in the other Dano-Norwegian colonies
English: Colonial and postcolonial use of Danish place-names in Greenland: With comparative views to place-name practice in the other Dano-Norwegian colonies
Source system: Publicera | Published: 2023-12-16 | Pages: 137–162
Abstract
The article offers an introduction to the topic of Danish place-names, place-name policy and place-name practice in Greenland in the colonial period of 1721–1979, where Dutch, English, Danish and Greenlandic names were used in various forms and combinations. It is suggested that the extensive use of Greenlandic place-names in the Danish colonial administration could be seen to reflect an anti-conquest motivation on behalf of the Danes. The article goes on to present the postcolonial discourse on the use of Danish vs. Greenlandic place-names in Greenland and Denmark since Home Rule was introduced in Greenland in 1979. The observations from Greenland are compared with the practices observed in the contemporary tropical colonies of Denmark-Norway, i.e. Danish East Indies, Danish Guinea and Danish West Indies.
Keywords
place-names; Danish colonial history; Greenland; place-name policies; place-name practices; postcolonial place-name debate
