What does it mean in the current Russian political environment?
> The term Little Russia is now anachronistic when used to refer to the country Ukraine and the modern Ukrainian nation, its language, culture, etc. Such usage is typically perceived as conveying an imperialist view that the Ukrainian territory and people ("Little Russians") belong to "one, indivisible Russia".Today, many Ukrainians consider the term disparaging, indicative of Russian suppression of Ukrainian identity and language. It has continued to be used in Russian nationalist discourse, in which modern Ukrainians are presented as a single people in a united Russian nation. This has provoked new hostility toward and disapproval of the term by many Ukrainians. In July 2021 Vladimir Putin published a 7000-word essay, a large part of which was devoted to expounding these views. [0]
Just to make sure, according to you, this is completely false and detached?
But this is a small detail from my reply, why are people so focused on this? Even if I was wrong, which I don't see that I am, everything else still stands.
So "The Russian regime (and apparently a lot of Russians) deem Ukrainians as an inferior ethnic group - they call them "little Russians"." it is? And this follows from the link? Have you read it? Really?
The term Малороссия now days is outdated indeed, as wiki says. This term was first introduced not even by Russia but by Byzantine Church and word "мало" ("little" as you "translate" here) means "original" "primordial" to distinct two church branches and then where used to denote parts of Rus' under Polish rule.
Note, the linked article does not say that Russians use this term to denote someone inferior. It says that some Ukrainians consider this word offensive which is not surprising taking into account active propaganda and lack of historical education in masses.
libertine|7 months ago
> The term Little Russia is now anachronistic when used to refer to the country Ukraine and the modern Ukrainian nation, its language, culture, etc. Such usage is typically perceived as conveying an imperialist view that the Ukrainian territory and people ("Little Russians") belong to "one, indivisible Russia".Today, many Ukrainians consider the term disparaging, indicative of Russian suppression of Ukrainian identity and language. It has continued to be used in Russian nationalist discourse, in which modern Ukrainians are presented as a single people in a united Russian nation. This has provoked new hostility toward and disapproval of the term by many Ukrainians. In July 2021 Vladimir Putin published a 7000-word essay, a large part of which was devoted to expounding these views. [0]
Just to make sure, according to you, this is completely false and detached?
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Russia#Modern_usage
But this is a small detail from my reply, why are people so focused on this? Even if I was wrong, which I don't see that I am, everything else still stands.
yurish|7 months ago
The term Малороссия now days is outdated indeed, as wiki says. This term was first introduced not even by Russia but by Byzantine Church and word "мало" ("little" as you "translate" here) means "original" "primordial" to distinct two church branches and then where used to denote parts of Rus' under Polish rule.
Note, the linked article does not say that Russians use this term to denote someone inferior. It says that some Ukrainians consider this word offensive which is not surprising taking into account active propaganda and lack of historical education in masses.