Are we postcolonial?

Sat Mar 11 02:05:41 UTC 2006

10 March 2006

Dear Professor Condee,

You wrote:

 Now let's get
back to the purer topics: opera, _zvonit'_, and the holies.

But what could be "purer" than the topic of "rossiiskii" vs "russkii"?  
This is a linguistic issue (and therefore appropriate to SEELANGS), and 
it is an issue with enormous political consequences in the post-Soviet 
space.  It is an issue of great psychological importance to both ethnic 
Russians and minority peoples in today's Russian Federation.  It should 
not be trivialized.

I'll grant that Tishkov's proposal to distinguish "Rossians" from 
"Russians" may not be so "pure," since it concerns English rather than a 
Slavic language.  But it has a parallel in the Russian language 
("rossiiane" vs. "russkie").  And it is a proposal honestly put forth by 
one of Russia's (Rossia's) most distinguished ethnographers.  Why not 
discuss it?

Sincerely,

Daniel Rancour-Laferriere

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