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But in "Dead Souls" and elsewhere he never referred to himself as a Ukrainian. He called himself, proudly, Russian, through and through.
by wawjgreen 4y ago
But in "Dead Souls" and elsewhere he never referred to himself as a Ukrainian. He called himself, proudly, Russian, through and through.
- Mikeb85 4y agoAnd 1000 years ago Rus was an empire centred on its capital, Kyiv. Ukrainians used to be called Rusyn or Ruthenian. There was a Rus empire encompassing Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia before Moscow even existed. Ukraine as a country is a relatively modern construct. Born out of centuries of oppression at the hands of Muscovites. That doesn't mean that Ukrainians didn't exist just because they were called something else in the past. Anyhow, tons of Gogol's writings reference Ukrainian culture. He was born in a cossack town. Which also happened to be part of the Russian Empire, before the idea of Ukrainian independence became widespread. Might as well say Italians didn't exist before modern Italy, or deny the Germans' history and existence just because Germany is a relatively modern state.
- wawjgreen 4y agoMy comment did not deny Ukrainians ANYTHING. Also, your claim of oppression needs to be cited or else it's hot air. Again, I didn't say Ukrainians didn't exist: they were called Russians the same way Bavarians are called German now. finally, once again, I didn't say Gogol didn't reference Ukrainian culture: he did, but he never called it a "Ukrainian" culture. In his writings, he always said: "My Russia". It is the same as saying a Texan says he is American. Does that mean we are denying Texas their Texan culture and dialect? And for reference, Germany has always been called that--Germania.