SUMMARY:

Vadim Aristov outlines prospective directions for the study of Medieval Rus lands or, alternatively, East European Medieval history. He lists seven main objectives: deconstruction of seemingly self-evident concepts used to frame the historical narrative; critical revision of the available pool of primary sources; reflection on the analytical language of scholars; rehabilitation of the material aspect of the past currently overshadowed by textual projections; transcendence of the territorial and conceptual constraints imposed by national history; revolutionary innovation of themes and approaches to the study of the period; and last, but not least, proliferation of dialogue between different historiographic schools and traditions.