Slovo o polku Igoreve

[Katya Hirvasaho]

J. Douglas Clayton wrote:
>>
>Our job is not to police which works belong to which literary traditions,
>but to dispassionately observe the functioning of the national myth that we
>call Russian literature. If that myth appropriates Slovo, then we have a
>right to describe that appropriation, document it, and account for it. It
>is a literary fact. Whether or not we say they have no right to do it, they
>will continue to do so. By the way, Slovo is also appropriated by
>modern-day Ukrainians as "Ukrainian literature." This is as offensive to
>some as "Rossiia kievskaia" is to others. What is important is that it is
>done *because* it is offensive (in the etymological sense), in other words,
>a counter-appropriation. Beyond the issue of appropriation (and indeed of
>the authenticity of Slovo, which, in the context of modern Russian
>literature is a red herring), no one can dispute, it seems to me, that
>Slovo is a highly influential text in Russian literature, culture, and
>identity - as important, perhaps, as Kosovo is to the Serbs.
>
>
>
>
>******************************************************************************
>J. Douglas Clayton                              Tel. 512-471-3607 (office)
>Professor and Chair                                  512-899-0848 (home)
>Slavic Languages & Literatures                  Fax  512-471-6710
>University of Texas
>Austin TX 78713-7217
>
>http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/slavic/profs/clayton.html

--Certainly our job is not policing; however, as scholars we do have the
responsibility to try to be as impartial as possible and not contribute to
the perpetuation of myths, be they cultural or national, or kul'ty
lichnosti.  One problem is that it is not generally recognized that
language is a tool of cultural implementation and control and is never
neutral.  To use the term "Kievan Russia" would indeed be reinforcing the
Russian nationalist myth of Kiev as Russian. It is not an "innocent" term.
For example, in English we no longer consider "he" to be a neutral, generic
designation as it was claimed to be in earlier times, but one marked by
gender.

Katya Hirvasaho