4 ms·
Explanation for those unfamiliar with Russophone online culture: in the Russian-speaking internet, Russia's gopniks (approximate equivalent of England's chavs)
by tetromino_ 11y ago
Explanation for those unfamiliar with Russophone online culture: in the Russian-speaking internet, Russia's gopniks (approximate equivalent of England's chavs) have for a long time been occasionally referred to as orcs or goblins. In the context of the Russian/Ukrainian conflict, this has expanded to anti-Putinist opposition and pro-Ukrainian trolls labeling pro-Putin Russians as orcs, and Russia itself as Mordor, land of the orcs. (Examples of usage: http://spektr.press/chto-eto-s-nimi/ http://spektr.press/chto-eto-s-nimi/ http://grani.ru/opinion/portnikov/m.235880.html http://grani.ru/opinion/portnikov/m.235880.html)
This also ties into an old Russian geek tradition of identifying fantasy-genre elves with America and the West (which is very obvious in some fictional universes; e.g. in Tolkien's works, Valinor geographically corresponds to North America), with the natural implication that orcs and goblins (the opponents of the elves) are Russians, and therefore basically good guys but tragically misunderstood by the world. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Ringbearer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Ringbearer for this viewpoint expanded into a novel.
So either google's algorithms had identified a sufficient number of humorous references to Russia as Mordor, or some intrepid band of trolls decided to google-bomb the algorithm to push this translation.
- daturkel 11y agoFantastic—this should've been in the article!
- avodonosov 11y agoAs a person native to russophone online culture: this "explanation" is your fantasy. It's true ukrainian coments in forums can call russia mordor, but it's not an extension of any previous background. And IMHO it doesn't require explanation. BTW, I have never heard about america = valinor.
- tetromino_ 11y ago> this "explanation" is your fantasy. My educated guess :) Every meme starts from somewhere. For example, the vatnik meme did not appear fully formed from the vacuum like Venus from ocean foam; it was invented by a specific person, who was (according to interviews) influenced by Spongebob Squarepants - hence the shape. I don't know who invented the Russia/Mordor theme, but I can try to guess where in the online cultural background that existed in 2013 that person could have found their inspiration. > And IMHO it doesn't require explanation. IMHO it does require explanation. Why Mordor and not Nilfgaard or Fire Nation? Why Sauron and not Voldemort or Tywin Lannister?
- free652 11y agoI never heard a Ukrainian call Russia Mordor, nor either russian or ukrainian call USA valinor. Hell, most of the Russian speakers wouldn't probably know what Valinor means in the first place. Yea, some people call it. But they are so marginal. I agree with you, this is a specific attack against google's algorithm.
- yurish 11y agoValinor - have not heard about but naming Russia Mordor is quite popular on Ukrainian unti-Russian forums.
- wodenokoto 11y agoWe are not talking about most Russian speakers, but an Internet subculture of Russian speakers.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- gcb0 11y agojust because You are not familiar with the sub culture that generated a pop term, doesn't mean the etymology is wrong.
- avodonosov 11y agoNo, it's just You unfamiliar with the offline culture which really gave birth to this metaphor.
- drdaeman 11y agoI'm not sure about your explaination, but either way the fact is Russia is somewhat frequently compared to Mordor. This also reminded me there was some drama in late 2014 about lightning the Eye of Sauron above the skyscraper in Moscow (http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30414032 http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30414032) ;)
- k_bx 11y ago> pro-Ukrainian trolls not only trolls, but ordinary Ukrainians as well use "Mordor" instead of "Russia" quite often in last few years