Reclaimed narratives: Nonofficial names as counter-memories in Kigali’s urban landscape

Drawing on the fields of cultural geography, critical toponymy and memory studies, this study investigates the names used by ordinary urban residents to navigate the streets of Kigali. In our study, we analyse the localised memories and narratives inscribed in these nonofficial names in relation to the cultural, political and social context of the spaces in question. Our empirical study, based on walk-along interviews conducted in the city centre, reveals that the official street names and signs introduced in 2012, which employ a numbering system and English in line with political ambitions to build a new, modern, postgenocide Rwanda, remain invisible to our interviewees despite their physical presence in public spaces. Instead, modern landmarks – buildings and areas – are used for navigation, similar to traditional Rwandan oral cultures. Nonofficial landmark names, referring to both existing and no longer physically existing landmarks, serve as repositories of collective memory. They link the material environment to the past, reflecting collective values and meaning, and function as counternarratives that challenge the official master narrative.