BATU’S SPEECHES AS A REFLECTION OF THE ETHNOCONFESSIONAL CONFRONTATION IN THE TALE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF RYAZAN BY BATU

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Category: Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 24
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Abstract:

The article analyzes the direct speeches of the main negative character of the Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu from the point of view of the purpose and motive of their utterance in the context of the problem of ethno-confessional confrontation. Khan’s special emotionality, his ability to show different feelings and emotions, including contradictory ones, is reflected not only in the actions, but also in the speeches of the hero. All three speeches of the main negative character are a literary text created by the author of the Tale ... many years after the complete overthrow of the yoke. The way the Old Russian writer formulated Batu’s speeches is an opportunity to demonstrate not the vivid image of the enemy but the images of Russian princes and warriors, to give a comprehensive assessment of the deceased Yevpaty Kolovrat, supplementing his positive and already heroic image with an emotional assessment of the enemy. The main purpose of the old Russian writer was not to create a psychological portrait of Batu, but a positive assessment of the images of defenders of Russia, which is based on an ethno-confessional characteristic.
Keywords: tales of the Horde invasion, direct speech, Batu, ethnoconfessional confrontation, image of the enemy.
Author: Ekaterina A. Andreeva
Information about the author:

Ekaterina A. Andreeva, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25А, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8829-3084

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For citation:

Andreeva, E.A. “Batu’s Speeches as a Reflection of the Ethno-Confessional Confrontation in the ‘Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan by Batu’.” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 24. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova, sci. ed. M.V. Kaplun. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2025, pp. 382–393. https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2025-24-382-393 (In Russian)
EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/DEMVFH
UDC: 821.161.1.0
Publication Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2025-24-382-393
Received: 18.01.2025
Approved after reviewing: 11.03.2025
Date of publication: 13.07.2025

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