초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This paper examines the ways in which the local authorities and elite invented a “new” symbol of Pskov, a Russian borderland located in the northwest region, by redefining Alexander Nevsky(1220-1263),the Prince of Novgorod. Prince Nevsky rose to legendary status after his military victories against foreign invaders, such as Germans,Swedes, and Poles, who tried to occupy the Pskov region. The Russian Orthodox Church also canonized Nevsky as a saint in the mid sixteenth century. During the Soviet period, Prince Nevsky was a national hero rather than a local hero of Pskov. While the Stalin regime used Nevsky as a tool for Soviet propaganda mainly for a military purpose during the Great Patriotic War, the local authorities of Pskov did not have the right to utilize him for local interests and the formation of local identity because the “center” often controlled and intervened the process of forging local identities. This situation changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. For the local authorities and elite of the borderland called a “fortress of Russia,”Prince Nevsky, who defeated foreign invaders and saved Russian territories and the Orthodox faith, is indeed a right figure to propagate as a symbol of Pskov. The local government began to localize Nevsky as a “townsman” by emphasizing the relations between the Pskov region and Nevsky. Unlike the Soviet period, the Pskov media and religious leaders also began to portray him in a religious manner as they presented him as a saint in response to the increasing influences of the Orthodox Church in local society and politics. This indicates that the local authorities and elite redefined a national hero for local interests.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Pskov, Symbol, Region, Alexander Nevsky, Borderland
