Slovo o polku Igoreve

[Katya Hirvasaho]

>But doesn't the already cited Povest' vremennyx let say: "otkuda est'
>poshla russkaja zemlja"? Should we also object to the self-name of the time
>on the grounds that later on the nation split? Aren't we perpetuating the
>"bratoubijstvennye mezhdousobicy" of the time, only under a different
>guise?
>
>Alina Israeli

--It can be confusing, but when we, the speakers of late 20th century, say
"Russia" and "Russian," it does not mean the same as "russkaja zemlja" of
the PVL.  "Russia" is a political, ideological, and cultural concept,
invented in the 18th and 19th centuries in its present interpretation.
(Benedict Anderson,  _Imagined Communities.  Reflections on the Origin and
Spread of Nationalism_.  Revised ed.  London and New York:  Verso, 1991.)

For example, since there was no France, Charlemagne is not referred to as a
French king, but Frankish.

Katya Hirvasaho