The Place Name Symbol And The Cultural Construction Of Rural Society

Place names are the products of human activities.They are the linguistic symbols that are commonly accepted and are typical examples of regional culture.The phenomenon of geographical names is complex and diverse,but it is an indispensable part of culture from the date of its emergence.At the same time,culture permeates into all aspects of human social life,and the production,structure,development and evolution of the place name will be influenced and restricted by culture.The Bai language place names in the Bai community are not only the show of the Bai nationality civilization,but also the reflection of the history and society of the Bai nationality.It is also a construction of the Bai culture.Taking the name of Bai language place names in Eryuan County as the research object,and based on the large number of collections of place names language materials,this paper tries to use the perspective of linguistic anthropology to explore the important role of the place name resource as a symbolic to construct the local society in the practice process.And discusses how the Bai nationality society constructs its own collective cultural image through the establishment,application,and interpretation of the symbolic system of geographical names.In short,it is the process and the result of expressing itself to others through the interpretation of their own imagery.In this process,when the rural social responds to the integration of various cultural elements,especially the trend of China,the coping strategies can vividly embody the wisdom and persistence of the people when the state power is “present”;while the cultural elites of rural society actively and consciously using the mobilizable elements of the symbol system of geographical names as a resource for local welfare,no matter what the final game result is,the staged goals of cultural construction are indisputable facts in a certain sense.Of course,what should not be overlooked is that the continuing characteristics of cultural construction are still clearly reflected in the practice of social life.