Semiotic-spatial metaphors about Kainsk: “Siberian Jerusalem” or “The second Jerusalem”

The article is devoted to the creation, evolution and transformation of semiotic-spatial constructs on the example of metaphors about Kainsk: “Siberian Jerusalem” and “The Second Jerusalem”. When and how have appeared these metaphors about Kainsk? What is the role of science and the media? How does toponymy denote the trajectory of the development of the city history? When is the question about searching a new semiotic-spatial city idea actualized? This is the main aim of our researching. Siberian researchers (G.A. Nozdrin, M.V. Shilovsiky, Yu.V. Goncharov) used the semiotic-spatial metaphors about Kainsk in their works in 1900-2000, they named Kainsk (it is Kuibyshev today) “Siberian Jerusalem”. But we see the different metaphor about Kuibyshev (“The Second Jerusalem”) in official documents and the media in 2010. We can say about different associative bases of these metaphorconstructs: Kainsk as the city for Jews and Kainsk as the city that is important place of many religious objects. The values contained in the symbol “Jerusalem” are displayed, which determine the plans for the metaphors content: “Siberian Jerusalem” means “Jewish”, “The Second Jerusalem” means “interfaith”. We continue to research the Jews as one of the main origins of Palestinian toponymy. The method of realizing of Palestinian place names in the region is illustrated. As an argument we can read about Vilnius as “Lithuanian Jerusalem” in works by Yu. Schyauchyunayte-Verbitsken. Our attention is accented to the importance of citing scientific works that can create, disseminate and improve of toponymy meanings that can be contributing to a certain trajectory of the historical development of the city. The article analyzes the text of the newspaper “Evening Novosibirsk” (“Vecherniy Novosibirsk”) about Kainsk that is headlined “Siberian Jerusalem”. This text began to use and to boost this metaphor-construct that was created in scientific discourse. Why do this quoted texts contain metaphors about Kainsk as “Siberian Jerusalem” but at the same time there are no such metaphors in the original texts? There is the significance of the mass-media and scientific discourse in the implementation of semiotic-spatial constructs which forms a cultural and spatial phenomenon. Also, the metaphor “Siberian Jerusalem” continues to live in fiction literature. We see that the question about searching a new semiotic-spatial idea is actualized. At the same time the metaphor “The Second Jerusalem” does not become in demand in scientific sphere. The article mentions that the metaphor about Kainsk “Siberian Jerusalem” introduces to creating “Siberian Jerusalems” in Yeniseisk, in Barguzin (“Transbaikalian Jerusalems”), in Albazino, in Blagoveshchensk, in Birobidzhan (“Far East Jerusalems”).

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