National identities are largely defined by exclusion, by drawing a line between “us” and “them”. The role of national history writing in creating and maintaining these dichotomies has been crucial. Representations of battles and conflicts fit conveniently into the picture: dramatic turning points appeal to emotions and subconsciously shape the collective ideas of the “common past”.
Due to their prominent roles in national histories, battle narratives can be seen as “landmarks” in the collective imagery of a nation’s position in temporal as well as in spatial dimensions. Unraveling and contextualizing their historical layers may help us understand the use of history in creating and maintaining collective identities and power structures.
In this postdoctoral project Russian historiography is used as a case study, tracing the formation, changes and interpolations of narratives of famous medieval battles, such as the Kulikovo Battle (1380), from the middle ages to the present.
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