Povijest u nastavi, Vol. 33 No. 1, 2022.
Stručni rad
THE TIDES OF RIJEKA: THE NAMES OF SQUARES, STREETS, PIERS AND SCHOOLS IN THE 20TH CENTURY IN THE CITY OF RIJEKA
Daniela Jugo-Superina
orcid.org/0009-0005-2656-1572
; OŠ Fran Franković, Rijeka
Nera Malbaša Kovačić
; OŠ Drago Gervais, Brešca, Jurdani
Sažetak
Today, the city of Rijeka is known as an example of a tolerant multicultural environment, although these characteristics still need to be worked on. But the turbulent history of Rijeka in the 20th century is actually an example of the opposite - how different authorities, regimes and systems turned Rijeka into a city-case. In the first half of the 20th century, pro-Italian and Italian authorities tried to convince the people of Rijeka that the only valuable political and cultural sign was that of Italian nationality. A complete and sudden turn in the interpretation of Rijeka's identity was made by the Yugoslav authorities after the Second World War. And, finally, in contemporary Croatia, through much less turbulent changes, Rijeka starts building a new identity close to what was said in the first sentence.
This process can be clearly observed through the changes in the name of the city toponymy: how decrees, decisions and administrative decisions overnight erase persons, historical events and names, replacing them with other persons, events and names, then with the new ones, and so on. City toponymy thus directly and comprehensively affects the construction and the deconstruction of the culture of remembrance. In order to somehow stop this process and bring back some of the lost identities, as part of the European Capital of Culture (ECC) 2020 project, plates with the historical names of individual streets and squares were placed along with the current ones in the centre of Rijeka.
Teaching about the historical changes that took place in and around the city of Rijeka during the 20th century is not a simple task. Therefore, carefully designed and organized field lessons are a good way for students to gain knowledge and understanding in an interesting way. Therefore, the inclusion of an optional topic in the eighth grade History curriculum entitled "The tides of Rijeka: changes in the names of streets, squares, piers and schools" will be a contribution to students' knowledge about the past of their own city and a piece in the mosaic of their identity.
The first lesson is planned as an introduction to the history of the city of Rijeka and preparation for the field lesson, the second and the third are the field lessons themselves, and the fourth lesson is dedicated to analysis, evaluation and self-evaluation. During the field lesson, students divided in groups walk around the wider are of the centre of Rijeka: The worksheets give them directions for moving around and short descriptions. They also use the Internet and the map of the city centre. Solving task after task, they observe details, find inscriptions and memorial plaques, they search for basic information about the people, events and traditions that gave their names to streets, squares, piers and schools. The field lesson is followed by a short report on teamwork, clarity of instructions and difficulties they had during the process. The central part of the fourth lesson is finding the answer to these two questions:
- Why are the names of streets, squares, piers and schools important?
- Which authorities, in Rijeka in particular, changed their names? Why?
In this way, students are encouraged to think critically about certain aspects of the Rijeka mentality and the famous Rijeka multiculturalism, which can be seen as both an advantage and an issue.
Ključne riječi
culture of remembrance; city toponymy; national history; the city of Rijeka
Hrčak ID:
294354
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.12.2022.
Posjeta: 660 *