From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow : how maps name, claim, and inflame /

It is unfortunate that Monmonier did not stick with his original title, Fighting Words: it would have better signaled his central thesis that maps and their toponyms (place-names) constitute "a mediated portrait of the cultural landscape." The more salacious title certainly serves to address the part of his study that deals with the controversies over and resolutions of offensive toponyms, yet, somehow, despite the academic underpinning and rationale, the discussion of the scatological, pornographic, racist, and generally offensive place-names seldom escapes the predictable shock effect. Of course, despite his rejection of "poststructural critical theory" and Foucauldian "gratuitous assumptions about power," the author is well versed in the theories of territorial appropriation through the naming and renaming of places and the fact that names are loaded with symbolic power. Indeed, once Monmonier has got the erotic and offensive out of the way, his discussion of national and international procedures for naming is informative. Also, his examination of the politically charged toponymy of Cyprus, Israel, and Palestine demonstrates how place-names on maps "refresh memories, sustain dreams, and reinforce resentment." Well illustrated and well served by scholarly footnoting, the bibliography is a comprehensive survey of the literature on toponymy--albeit without all that postcolonial stuff. Edward Said would be disappointed! ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Most levels/libraries. B. Osborne Queen's University at Kingston

As the title of this slight but engaging treatise on the politics of place names indicates, a sufficiently detailed gazetteer offers plenty of material to rile up minorities, feminists and persons of refined sensibility. Geographer Monmonier (Spying with Maps) gets a lot of mileage out of typing provocative words into a U.S. Geological Survey database and picking through the resulting ethnic slurs, body parts and scatological imprecations. The Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states, with their ripe mining-camp history, offer up the most offensive place names, but even staid Newfoundland has a village named Dildo situated next to Spread Eagle Bay. The author delves into the efforts of the Federal Government?s Board on Geographic Names to sanitize uncouth toponyms, a task that requires delicate attention to racial and cultural sensitivities, often complicated by cries of political correctness from citizens proud of their off-color local landmarks. He goes on to examine the politics of map names in conflict zones like Cyprus and Israel and ongoing scientific and international squabbles over naming features of Antarctica, the ocean floor and the Moon. Although general readers will find much of the procedural and bureaucratic details of official place-naming arcane, they will enjoy a trove of giggle-inducing lore. Photos. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.