Analysis of place names in l’Horta de València (Spain). Integration of the classical and the critical approaches for the reconstruction and enhancement of its landscape

Abstract

L’Horta de València, the most populated district in the land of València or Valencian Country (País Valencià, in eastern Spain), is so named because until the early twentieth century its economy was based on its rich horta or huerta (irrigated land). From the analysis of its towns’ and villages’ place names (referring to areas where horta has been suppressed) we attempt a virtual reconstitution of the cultural landscape of l’Horta (which has for the most part disappeared in the last decades). Thus, we intend to make its citizens aware of the heritage value of this cultural landscape, and also to enhance what still survives of it. We carry out an analysis of l’Horta place names, following the classic methodology of collecting place names and explaining their origin and semantics, but also following the critical approach that studies the ideological and identity aspects behind place names. Both approaches can be integrated to obtain a more complex analysis of place names.