Hold on a moment. Colossus’ home is a “country that no longer exists.” So, for Colossus, the end of the Soviet Union is supposed somehow to have ended the existence of his native land.
This seems a very strange way for Peter to think – he might regret the end of the USSR, and he might remain a convinced believer in the virtues of Soviet communism, but it’s an odd conception of his national identity to suppose that he does not identify as a Russian at all.
I sense some connection with Lobdell’s whole “You taught me to *believe,*” Xavier-as-Christian-allegory thing. Communism can completely overwhelm Russianness and in effect completely erase Russian identity, because Communism sets itself in opposition to Christianity, which is what *matters*.
Given the time period he’d have grown up in, I believe Piotr would have been encouraged from birth to think of himself as a “Soviet citizen” first and foremost, before being “Russian” or “from Siberia” etc.
So the fall of the USSR does mean the country he was accustomed to thinking of as his primary national identity doesn’t exist.
Hold on a moment. Colossus’ home is a “country that no longer exists.” So, for Colossus, the end of the Soviet Union is supposed somehow to have ended the existence of his native land.
This seems a very strange way for Peter to think – he might regret the end of the USSR, and he might remain a convinced believer in the virtues of Soviet communism, but it’s an odd conception of his national identity to suppose that he does not identify as a Russian at all.
I sense some connection with Lobdell’s whole “You taught me to *believe,*” Xavier-as-Christian-allegory thing. Communism can completely overwhelm Russianness and in effect completely erase Russian identity, because Communism sets itself in opposition to Christianity, which is what *matters*.
I’d be inclined to give them a pass on that one.
Given the time period he’d have grown up in, I believe Piotr would have been encouraged from birth to think of himself as a “Soviet citizen” first and foremost, before being “Russian” or “from Siberia” etc.
So the fall of the USSR does mean the country he was accustomed to thinking of as his primary national identity doesn’t exist.