The Intangible Heritage of the Anthropocene: The Toponymic Revolution in the Human Age

Although the Anthropocene has been approached from numerous perspectives, scholars have not as yet considered an interesting point of view. Indeed, one of the most important intangible inheritances of the Anthropocene is detectable in the deep influence on a very common, though extremely complex, “performative practice” that each one of us regularly and (often) unconsciously enacts in everyday life. Place names or toponyms are the final repository of an impressive accumulation of knowledge acquired by indigenous peoples, through long histories of conflict and interaction with their surrounding environment. During the Anthropocene, a massive toponymic revolution has modified and still characterizes several places in the world due to the considerable environmental and socio-economic changes imposed by human activities. Some worldwide cases will be presented and discussed to illustrate the importance, intensity, and pervasiveness of these Anthropocene-related human activities, as driving forces determining this unexpected and underrated revolution.