« De Salem, Mass., à Salem House, San Diego : les mutations du sens communautaire traduites par la toponymie ».
Résumé
When the Puritans established their colony in New England, they were at the same time professing their faith in God-inspired happiness, as Salem, the name of their community, suggested. If this naming was inspired by the Scriptures, it also set up the basis of an experiment which was meant to be exceptional. Future colonists and pioneers therefore logically pursued the enterprise, founding dozens of new Salems, Sharons, Zions, and Paradises. Still today, realtors – not unsurprisingly - advertise various Shangri La Estates, Gardens of Eden and Salem Houses. However, considering the apparent toponymic vacuity of contemporary Eden Parks and Isles of Paradise, especially in regard to pious colonial names, one might reflect upon the sense of belonging, both in terms of acceptance and rejection, which these names suggest. What type of modern communal attachment do these new apartment complexes and gated communities re-create away from the ugliness and misery of the world? The purpose of this paper is thus to offer a reflection upon the variety of allegiances that are promised to communities named after the Biblical Salem, or other such religious toponyms, from the theocratic experiences of the early Puritans to the contemporary “so-called” urban Edens.