The article considers the hypothesis by N.S. Demkova about the creation of the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in 1195–1196, when an internecine struggle took place in Southern Russia, in which almost all the princes were involved. It is proved that in the Old Russian “song” there are no references to the events of these years. A modification of this hypothesis, the idea of A.V. Kizim, according to which the author of the “Tale…” sympathizes with the Rostislavichs from the Monomakhovich clan, but not with the Olgovichi, as N.S. Demkova claims. The inconsistency of this assertion is substantiated. Most likely, the work was created in hot pursuit of what happened, when the memory of Igor’s woeful campaign was still burning and disturbing. The call to the princes to avenge the defeat of Igor’s troops and protect Russia from the Polovtsian raids and the interpretation of the return of the NovgorodSeversky prince as a symbolic victory over the steppes should have been perceived especially strongly in the coming years after the events described by the author of the “tale”.
“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”; interpretation; dating; author’s position; symbolic codes.
Ranchin, A.M. “Once Again about the Dating of ‘The Tale of Igor’s Campaign’ and about the Author’s Position in the Monument”. Literaturovedcheskii zhurnal, no. 4(58), 2022, pp. 65–80. (In Russ.)