Multicultural Aspects of Name and Naming in a Postcolonial World

Colonialism meant - in a nutshell - that, by "discovery, conquest, and settlement, [European] nations expanded and colonized throughout the world, spreading European institutions and culture."* The colonized, on the other hand, were pressured to interact in one way or the other with the invaders in order to secure their survival. Eventually, independence was achieved but even the fiercest struggle for decolonization couldn't undo the influence that the European colonizers had on the colonized and their societies. Furthermore, in times of postcolonial globality, Western cultural patterns are still influential. A field where old and new interactions between European and local cultural practices is most tangible is the field of names and naming. This article explores the ways in which European/Western ideas were and still are influential in shaping naming-practices. The focus will be on personal names, and street names, in particular in Tanzania. Occasionally, other postcolonial realities and name classes will also be taken into consideration. *https://www.britannica.com/topic/colonialism