Deconstruction of historical names as a tool for the restoration of cultural memory

<jats:p>Research aim. The study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the socio-cultural, political, and legal mechanisms, challenges, and significance of retoponymization (the return of authentic historical names) in Southern Ukraine. The main goal is to reveal the potential of restoring historical toponyms as an effective tool for eliminating the long-term colonial legacy of the Russian Empire and the Soviet totalitarian regime, as well as consolidating the collective memory of Ukrainian society in the context of the contemporary ongoing war. The research methodology. The theoretical and methodological framework of the research is built at the interdisciplinary intersection of postcolonial studies and the sociology of collective memory (memory studies). The study integrates Edward Said's concept of «imaginative geography» to deconstruct colonial myths about a «civilizational vacuum», Gayatri Spivak's approach regarding «giving voice back to the subaltern», to comprehend the agency of indigenous and colonized communities, and Pierre Nora's concept of «places of memory» (lieux de mémoire) to analyze the regeneration of local identity at the micro-level. Comparative-historical, source-studying, and systemic-structural methods were applied. Scientific Novelty: for the first time, this article provides a comprehensive analysis of retoponymization processes not merely as a technical administrative act, but as a dual instrument for the decolonization of symbolic space – simultaneously dismantling imperial narratives and sustaining restored local «places of memory» under the conditions of modern military and informational aggression of the Russian Federation. Using specific micro-cases from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the study details the specific features of regenerating the Cossack code and presents the first systemic justification for the mandatory decolonization of the Turkic (Crimean Tatar and Nogai) layer of the Azov region as a vital factor of national security. Conclusions. It is proven that the return of historical names in Southern Ukraine goes far beyond technical administration and represents a fundamental mnemonic practice. Imperial and Soviet oykonims artificially constructed the colonial myth of «Novorossiya». The scientific audit of urban and rural spaces (specifically the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Orikhiv, and the communities of the Inhulets River basin) brought to light powerful early modern layers of Ukrainian Cossack development hidden beneath the colonial toponymic gloss. The restoration of the Turkic names of the Azov region is of particular importance, as it shatters the illusion of a «monolithically Russian South» and demonstrates the polyphonic architecture of national memory. In wartime conditions, retoponymization serves as an instrument of cognitive self-defence and delimitation of the symbolic borders of a sovereign state. Keywords: decolonization, retoponymization, places of memory, imaginative geography, Southern Ukraine, oikonym, collective memory.</jats:p>